Three labourers killed, one still trapped in house collapse in Rupnagar
The incident took place on Thursday when five labourers were engaged in the process of raising the lintel of the house, police said.
Three labourers have died after a two-storey house collapsed in Preet Colony here while the rescue operation continued for the second day on Friday as one labourer continued to remain trapped under the debris, police said.
The incident took place on Thursday when five labourers were engaged in the process of raising the lintel of the house, they said.
The labourers were doing the work of lifting the lintel of the house with the help of jacks.
The labour contractor has been arrested in this connection while the house owner is absconding after the incident, police said.
“Of the five labourers who got trapped under the debris, three died in the incident. Two were already dead when pulled out of the debris while one passed away in a hospital,” Rupnagar senior superintendent of police (SSP) Gulneet Singh Khurana said earlier in the day.
He added that one labourer, who was pulled out alive, is being treated at a hospital while efforts are on to rescue the one who is still trapped under the debris.
The SSP said that a contractor from Haryana had employed the labourers for the task.
Rupnagar superintendent of police Rupinder Kaur said that police have registered an FIR under IPC sections 304-A (causing death by negligence), 337 (causing hurt by act endangering life or personal safety of others) and 338 (causing grievous hurt by act endangering life or personal safety of others) against labour contractor Sunil Kumar, a resident of Kalasi village in Karnal, Haryana, on the complaint of a labourer named Rajesh Kumar.
She added that the labour contractor has been arrested in connection with the incident.
The police has also initiated a thorough inquiry of the incident. The police had on Thursday said that a loud explosion was heard when the building caved-in.
Following the collapse, teams from the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), State Disaster Response Force (SDRF), Indo-Tibetan Border Police, Punjab Police and the fire brigade reached the spot to conduct the rescue operation.
