Building collapse at Kasavanahalli: Death toll rises to 4

Bengaluru: The death toll in the building collapse at Kasavanahalli on Thursday has increased to four, with one more worker succumbing at a private hospital on Friday. Two workers were rescued from the rubble on Friday morning and one of them succumbed. Police said two more are trapped in the debris. The deceased has been identified as Hazrath, who was rescued at around 8.30 am on Friday and taken to Sakra hospital, where he died at around 1 pm. One more worker Dhirendra (24), who was pulled out of the rubble alive at around 3 am, was lucky to survive as he was relatively unhurt. He is being kept under observation at Sakra hospital.

The officials of Fire and Emergency Services, National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), State Disaster Response Force (SDRF), local police and BBMP officials continued to clear the debris on Friday. There is still no clarity as to how many people were working inside the building, when the incident happened. As many as 16 injured workers are currently undergoing treatment at different hospitals.

“The rescue operation will continue till Saturday evening as we are clearing the debris part by part using hammers and cutters. Heavy machineries are not being used as we fear more workers were trapped inside,” said Ravi Shankar, Divisional Fire Officer, Karnataka State Fire and Emergency Services.

DCP (Whitefield) Abdul Ahad said, “The rescue operation cannot be called off until we are sure that nobody is trapped inside.”

Ahad said that special teams have been formed to nab Mohammad Rafiq, the owner of the building who is currently absconding.

However, his wife and business partner Sameera, along with BBMP Executive Engineer (Mahadevapura) Munireddy have been detained for questioning.