Mohali building collapse: Debris removal ops underway, no one found trapped

Operations to clear debris are underway at the site where a three-storey building collapsed in Punjab's Mohali district, with officials saying that no one has been found trapped under the rubble on Sunday.

One person was killed and three others were injured after the commercial building collapsed on Saturday afternoon.

"The debris is being removed from the site and it may take a few days. During the debris clearing operation on Sunday, no one was found trapped under the fallen structure," Deputy Superintendent of Police, Kharar, Pal Singh, said.

District administration authorities and police have checked with the contractor and company officials at the site and they have been told that no labour or employee is missing, Kharar Sub-Divisional Magistrate (SDM) Himanshu Jain had said earlier in the day.

Taking serious note of the building collapse, Chief Minister Amarinder Singh had on Saturday asked the additional district magistrate of Mohali to conduct a thorough probe into the incident and submit his report within a week.

"A JCB machine driver died in the incident," Mohali Deputy Commissioner Girish Dayalan had said.

The body of the driver, Harvinder Singh, was pulled out from the debris late on Saturday evening.

The building collapsed when the JCB machine was digging an adjoining plot for construction of a basement, Kharar SDM Himanshu Jain had said.

The officials said the heavy earthmoving machine might have hit the foundation of the building, but added that the exact cause of the incident would be known only after the inquiry.

The probe would also ascertain whether it was an illegal construction, a state government statement had said.