Soldier among two killed in Himachal building collapse; 18 trapped

At least two people, including a soldier, were killed and 27 injured when a three-storey building collapsed after heavy showers in Himachal Pradesh’s Solan district on Sunday. At least 18 other people are feared trapped under the debris of the building.

The building, located on the Nahan-Kumarhatti road, housed a restaurant and collapsed around 4pm, Solan additional superintendent of police Shiv Kumar said. Of those feared trapped, 12 are army personnel, he added.

Solan district collector KC Chaman said a junior commissioned officer (JCO) of the army identified as naib subedar Raj Kishore and a civilian identified as Archana were killed in the collapse. Twenty-seven people, of whom 17 were army personnel and 10 civilians, were pulled out of the debris and sustained injuries, he added.

Chief minister Jairam Thakur said the accident took place because the foundation of the building collapsed following heavy rainfall. “The rescue operation will be completed in next 1-2 hours,” he was quoted as saying by news agency ANI.

Kumar said 30 soldiers were present at the restaurant. “We believe that 12 soldiers are still trapped and 6-7 inside it are civilians. Rescue work is going on at full swing,” he added. The area had received heavy rainfall for the past four days, he added.

The army personnel and their family members had reportedly stopped for lunch at the restaurant on their way to Uttarakhand. The first and ground floors of the building house residential quarters and small halls.

A police official said on condition of anonymity that Archana was the wife of Shimla resident Sahil Kumar who ran the eatery on the top floor but was not present at the time of the accident.

Kumar said the rescue teams comprised police personnel, home guards, an army contingent and members of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) teams.