Two dead, four trapped in Bengaluru building debris

Two persons have died and at least four are still trapped under the debris of an under-construction multistorey residential building that crashed in the city's south-eastern suburb, police said.

"Two bodies have been taken out of the debris and efforts are on to rescue another four persons trapped in the heap of construction material at the accident site," Bengaluru Additional Police Commissioner P. Harikrishnan told reporters here.

Of the two deceased, one was a security guard.

The fire brigade personnel were able to rescue about 10 people, including workers from the accident site, within an hour after the building collapsed around 2 pm.

"The fifth and sixth floors were under construction when the pillars and columns of the building on the floors above the ground gave way under the weight of the building material," said a fire brigade personnel.

A complaint of negligence was registered against the building owner, said to be from the neighbouring state of Andhra Pradesh, and police are on the lookout for him.

"The building collapsed due to substandard materials used in the construction," Bangalore Mayor G. Padmavathi told reporters at the accident site.

Many of the workers and labourers engaged in the ill-fated building construction are from Odisha and West Bengal.

--IANS

fb/nir/sac