GHMC Probe finds pillars of FNCC new building hollow

Hyderabad: Two construction workers died and 10 others were injured when an under-construction building of Film Nagar Cultural Centre collapsed at Film Nagar on Sunday morning.

The labourers were working on a new extension to the main building of FNCC.
The victims were identified as Mansoor Sheik, 35, from Murshidabad, West Bengal and H. Mahantesh, 38, from Raichur, Karnataka. Both were trapped under the concrete and iron bars in the collapse.

The injured were pulled out of the debris by the rescue team and sent to Apollo Hospital. NDRF personnel also joined the rescue.

Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao offered condolences to the family members of the deceased and directed the authorities to provide better treatment to the injured. Minister Talasani Srinivas Yadav visited the spot and promised action against those responsible.

Senior police officials said cases were also booked against FNCC president K.S. Rama Rao, secretary Raja Shekar Reddy, engineer Sudhakar Rao, and contractor Kondal Rao.

In the preliminary probe, it was found that the pillars were hollow. The probe team found the pillars broke without proper concreting.

Workers had no break for a full day

Workers said that they had been working at the FNCC site for more than 24 hours without sleep as the contractor had promised to pay them extra to finish the work before Sunday afternoon.

The victims had been working since Saturday morning. “When they were about to stop work at night, the contractor asked them to continue and finish it before Sunday afternoon,” said a victim’s relative.  Workers said they were paid between Rs 300 and Rs 350; the contractor had promised to pay up to Rs 750.

Fire brigade, cops took an hour to start

After the FNCC building collapsed on Sunday, police and fire personnel took more than an hour to start rescue operations.

Though the emergency services were alerted by locals, they reached the spot much later. Locals and workers started rescue operations by themselves. At least five people were rescued by locals before help arrived.

The NDRF team reached the spot after most of the survivors were pulled out,  said witnesses.In the initial hours, police could not control onlookers, who hampered the work.