There are over 20 people still trapped in the hotel building collapse in Hyderabad. The reported death in the building collapse has gone up to six.
Hyderabad Police Commissioner Anurag Sharma said that so far six bodies were recovered while 11 injured were taken out.
"We suspect another 20 people may be trapped under the debris," he said.
The police chief said they sought help of search experts from the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF).
Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) workers were seen clearing the debris with the help of fire fighting personnel. GHMC commissioner Krishna Babu supervised the rescue operation.
One of the rescued hotel workers said there were 30 workers in the building at the time of the incident.
Locals said the City Light hotel was one of the 200 old buildings which were issued notices by the GHMC for demolition but the owner had reportedly got a court stay.
The two-storey building of City Light Hotel on Rashtrapati Road in Secunderabad, collapsed around 6.30 a.m.
Police, fire fighting personnel and rescue workers managed to evacuate 11 people from the rubble and shifted them to government-run Gandhi Hospital. The conditions of some of the injured is stated to be critical.
Many auto-rickshaw drivers and daily wage workers were at the famous joint to have Iranian tea and snacks.
While the cause of the collapse of the roof is not yet known, police officials suspect that internal constructions like putting up a new rolling shutter or putting up the huge stoves to make the Ramzan delicacy - Haleem, in the upper floors could have led to the incident.
Police, Fire & Disaster Management and the GHMC teams rushed to the site within minutes of learning of the incident. However, they could not do much with regard to the rescue of the persons trapped under the collapsed roof as they did not have the crucial equipment like the gas cutters or thermal scanners. Traffic came to a standstill as scores of onlookers gathered at the site. TV news vehices too parked hapazhardly became an obstacle for relief and rescue teams from getting into the mishap site.
It was only when then disaster management team from the National Industrial Security Academy (NISA) came to the site on being called by the GHMC that these vital equipment like gas cutters to cut through the steel-concrete slab and thermal scanners to scout for the trapped persons was used.
"I have having tea with my friends - Swamy, Sailu and others when the ground seemed to have given away and the roof was coming down. We immediately rushed out and also dragged some people out. We could also see fire breaking out of the kitchen," said Shankar, a daily wage worker, who was inside the hotel.
Monday 8 July 2013
http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/hyderabad-hotel-collapse-20-more-trapped-under-debris/1/287430.html
http://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/Hyderabad/nine-dead-in-hyderabad-hotel-collapse/article4893989.ece
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