Representative image of a house collapsing.
Credit: iStock Photo
Rupnagar: Three labourers were killed when a two-storey house collapsed in Preet Colony here while one remains trapped under the debris as rescue efforts continue, police said on Friday.
The incident took place on Thursday when the labourers were engaged in the process of raising the lintel of the house, they 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," Senior Superintendent of Police, Rupnagar, Gulneet Singh Khurana said.
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 police said 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.
House owner Rajinder Kaur said on Thursday they had built this structure in 1984. They were doing the work of lifting the lintel of the house with the help of jacks.
A contractor from Haryana had employed the labourers for the task, SSP Khurana said.
He added that a case has been registered in the incident.
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