5-storey under-construction building collapses in Ghaziabad; 1 dead, 7 injured

A five-storey under-construction building collapsed here today, killing at least one person and injuring seven, officials said.

District Magistrate Ritu Maheshwari said the building was being constructed illegally.

Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has ordered an inquiry into the incident. A magisterial probe has also been initiated into the collapse of the illegal structure in the Akash Nagar area, she said.

The National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) personnel were pressed into service soon after the incident and rescue and search operations were underway, police said.

"So far, we have pulled out one body and rescued one person trapped under the debris," an NDRF official told PTI.

Director General of Police O P Singh in a statement identified the deceased as Rahul.

The Ghaziabad Police tweeted that some labourers were rescued and sent to a hospital for treatment.

There were no reports of more people being trapped in the collapsed structure, it said.

"Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath directed the district magistrate and the senior superintendent of police of Ghaziabad to visit the site of building collapse and take immediate action for rescue, along with NDRF personnel," an Uttar Pradesh government spokesperson said in Lucknow.

Adityanath also asked the district authorities to register an FIR and take action against the guilty.

Local MP and Minister of State for External Affairs V K Singh reached the spot and took stock of the rescue operation.

Maheshwari said police were trying to trace the land owner and the builder.

"An FIR will be registered and they will be booked under the National Security Act. Stringent action will be taken against officers responsible for the illegal construction," she said.

"The government will give Rs 2 lakh as ex-gratia to the family of the victim and Rs 50,000 each to the injured," Maheshwari said.

The incident comes within a week of a six-storey under-construction building having collapsed on another five-storey building in Greater Noida.

The twin-building collapse in Shahberi village had claimed nine lives, including that of a toddler and two women.