SP leader who lost mother, wife in building collapse alleges laxity in rescue efforts

'It was a drama in the name of rescue operations here,' he said

Samajwadi Party spokesperson Abbas Haider, who lost his wife and mother in a multi-storey building collapse in Lucknow, alleged laxity in rescue efforts and demanded that stern action be taken against those responsible for the incident.

"I don't know what to do now. Two members of my family are no more and two others -- my father and six-year-old son -- are in hospital," Haider said.

He said they should be allowed to take the bodies home.

He demanded that those responsible for the building collapse be arrested and stern action taken against them.

"It was a drama in the name of rescue operations here. The entire media present was hailing the Yogi Adityanath government and the administration while videos and media bytes were being given for publicity," he said.

The five-storey Alaya Apartments in the Hazratganj area in the Uttar Pradesh capital collapsed Tuesday evening, trapping more than a dozen people under it.

Haider's wife Uzma Haider, 30, and mother Begum Haider, 87, have died, while two more people are still feared trapped under the debris.

More than a dozen people have been pulled out of the debris so far and admitted to hospitals.

The building reportedly collapsed when some drilling work was underway.

Samajwadi Party spokesperson Haider said, "I was aware of the entire layout of the building and kept telling them to drill at a particular place but that was not done and two members of my family -- my mother and wife -- died...because of a delay in rescuing them," he said.

"I kept telling them that people are on the first floor but it was not taken into account....six hours were wasted. Several rescue teams kept standing and work was not started. There was no technical expertise, advanced equipment for drilling or evacuation nor was there the suction machine," he claimed.

He alleged that false claims of providing water and oxygen are being made whereas no such thing was available.

"This is wrong, it amounts to murder by the administration. First illegal buildings are constructed and then people die," Haider charged.

Rescue personnel drawn from various agencies have been working round the clock since the multi-storey building collapsed Tuesday evening and the hope of pulling out anyone alive from the debris is diminishing by the minute.