Woman dead, 3 injured as building collapses in Ghaziabad

A 70-year-old woman was killed while two labourers were injured when a dilapidated building in Loni town of this district collapsed on Saturday due to incessant rains, police said.

The two-and-a-half-storeyed building located in Vijay Vihar colony of Tronica city of Loni town housed a screen printing press on the ground floor, they said.

Senior Superintendent of Police Vaibhav Krishna told that the house was rented out to Bihar resident Suresh, who was running the printing press.

The front portion of the house started sagging Saturday morning and soon after the entire building collapsed, he said.

There were eight persons in the house and three of them were rescued immediately by police with the help of locals, he added.

The injured were rushed to GTB hospital in Delhi's Shahdara where doctors declared Kaushalya, mother of the printing press owner, brought dead, the SSP said.

The building, allegedly constructed "illegally" in 100 square yards, was in ramshackle condition and the rain water poured into its foundation, due to which it collapsed.

When the ceiling plaster fell down, the workers -- Jitendra (19) and Karan (18)-- and Suresh's wife Sanjoo (36) and their son Sonu (17) rushed out of the building.

Two other labourers, Papoo (18) and Manoo (22), and Kaushalya who were on the first floor were trapped under the debris, the SSP said, adding that the woman died while the two workers suffered injuries.

Meanwhile, Ghaziabad Development Authority (GDA) Vice-Chairperson (VC) and district magistrate Ritu Maheshwari said the GDA is identifying illegal buildings and bulldozing them.

The authority had identified around 650 buildings and in 104 cases, around 300 houses and structures have been demolished, she said.

"A special drive will be launched in the illegal colonies of Loni to identify the dilapidated buildings. Warning boards will be erected in old area to aware the public about ramshackle buildings and houses," Maheshwari said.