Another body retrieved from apartment rubble, toll 6

The death toll in the collapse of an under-construction apartment at Bellandur, southeast Bengaluru, has gone up to six as another body was retrieved from the rubble on Friday.

The latest victim is Srikrishna, 23, a native of Kolkata, who was engaged in laying floor tiles at the building. His body was retrieved around 12.45 pm.

“Srikrishna was fixing tiles on the fourth floor when the building collapsed around 12.30 pm on Wednesday. He noticed the building collapsing and ran down the stairs. Just then, a wall fell on the stairs and he was buried alive,” Regional Fire Officer, Shivashankar T N, told DH. “The place where the body was found indicates that he made desperate attempts to save himself.”

Srikrishna’ brother Subodh broke down when the body was retrieved. The body was moved to Victoria Hospital for post-mortem. The brothers had arrived in Bengaluru a few years ago looking for work.

The two-day-long rescue operation, which began around 12.45 pm on Wednesday, concluded around 12.45 pm on Friday.

The National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), the State Disaster Response Force (SDRF), the Fire and Emergency Services Department and the local police decided to call off the operation after making sure that no one was trapped in the rubble. A total of 474 men from these agencies were involved in the operations. They rescued a person alive and retrieved six bodies.

The debris was cleared by Friday evening. But the BBMP’s cranes were stationed at the site. The cranes will remain there until the building is fully demolished,” said Shashikumar, executive engineer, Mahadevapura zone.

NDRF assistant commandant K S Subish said the operation was conducted carefully as the building was falling down slowly. Rescue workers used sensor-fitted cameras that detect human heartbeat to trace the bodies and heavy machinery to cut concrete slabs and steel, he added.

A BBMP official said poor quality materials were used in the apartment construction, and their usage was not proportionate either. “The contractor reportedly used cement and M-sand, which is crushed stone powder. The concrete curing was not done properly. The apartment height was increased in violation of the sanctioned building plan,” the official said.

Police, meanwhile, have decided to send the construction materials to expert engineers for examination. “Based on their report on what caused the accident, we will take action against the building owner, Srinivas Reddy,” DCP (Southeast) Boralingaiah M B said.

The BBMP, too, will get the materials tested. “We have collected samples of sand, mud, iron and other materials used in the construction. We will send them to the laboratory for tests,” said Shashikumar.

Boralingaiah refuted reports of two arrests in the incident. “We have arrested only one person so far. We are questioning several others but have not yet made anymore arrests. One of the owners lives in the US. Just being one of the owners doesn’t prove complicity in the crime. We are investigating if he had any role in the substandard construction.”
DH News Service