Hyderabad building collapse toll rises to 11, rescue operation over; owner arrested

The seven-storey building at Nanakramguda in the Cyberabad zone came crashing down on Thursday night.

Pic courtsey: ANI

Hyderabad: The death toll from a multi-storey under construction building collapse has risen to 11, officials said on Saturday.

The rescue work completed in the early hours of Saturday. A woman and a child were pulled out alive from the debris on Friday.

The seven-storey building at Nanakramguda in the Cyberabad zone came crashing down at around 9 pm on Thursday.

Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation Deputy Mayor Baba Fasiuddin said post-mortem has been completed on the 11 bodies. The GHMC has been making arrangements to transport the bodies of the victims to their villages.

State Municipal Administration Minister KT Rama Rao, who supervised the rescue operations at the site of the incident, said the builder, Satyanarayana Singh, has been arrested in Kerala and that a tough action would be taken against the guilty in the incident. The state government has already suspended two GHMC officials over the incident.

Police had booked a case of negligence and culpable homicide not amounting to murder against Satyanarayana Singh for constructing the building without permission and in violation of all rules.

An inquiry committee has been set up under Municipal Administration Secretary Navin Mittal and the report would be obtained in 15 days, the Telangana minister said.

"Nobody, either builder or GHMC officials, would be spared. We will show this as an example how tough action would be taken for violation of rules," the minister said.

All the victims were construction workers and their family members who were sleeping in the cellar when the building crumbled.

Nine of those killed hailed from Vijayanagaram district and one from Srikakulam district in Andhra Pradesh. A construction worker from Chhattisgarh was also among the dead.

Those killed have been identified as AN Sambaiah, 45, N Paidamma, 40, N Gauri, 13, K Polinaidu, 32, K Lakshmi, 26, R Shankar Rao, 18, P Polinaidu, 35, P Narayanamma, 28, P Mohan, 3.

Durga Rao from Srikkaulam and Shiva from Chhattisgarh are the other two victims.

The Telangana government has announced Rs 10 lakh ex-gratia each for the families of the dead.

The Andhra Pradesh government has also announced compensation to the victims in the tragedy, an MLA from the state, who visited the site, said.

AP Housing Minister K Mrinalini visited the spot yesterday.

Rekha, a woman from Chhattisgarh, and her four-year-old son Deepak were pulled out alive from the rubble on Friday. They are undergoing treatment at a private hospital.

(With Agency inputs)