Kanpur building collapse: SP leader Mahtab Alam, contractor booked; toll rises to 7

Pic courtsey: Twitter/ANI

Kanpur: The death toll in a building collapse in the Kanpur city in Uttar Pradesh rose to seven on Thursday, with three more labourers succumbing to their injuries, a police official said.

Eight persons trapped in the debris of the six-storey under-construction apartment building, owned by SP leader Mehtaab Aalam, were also rescued, the police official said.

Uttar Pradesh: NDRF teams conduct rescue operations at the building collapse site in Kanpur's Jajmua. pic.twitter.com/kv5lcdWayT — ANI UP (@ANINewsUP) February 2, 2017

The Kanpur Police have arrested Mehtaab Aalam, the owner of the building, and the contractor in this connection. 

Deputy Inspector General of Police Rajesh Modak confirmed the number of deaths and informed that many of the injured were still in critical condition. 

Most of the victims were labourers and their families from Chhattisgarh. The incident occurred on Wednesday afternoon when the sixth floor was being constructed.

All of a sudden, the building crumbled like a pack of cards and thereafter there was chaos and wails for help, an eyewitness said.

All through the night, the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) teams, who were rushed in from Varanasi and Lucknow, continued their relief and rescue operations.

The Army was also helping, a district official informed. But since the building is located in a narrow lane, rescue work was hampered.