Five people were killed and more than 20 others injured as a three-storey building collapsed in Lucknow on Saturday evening. Several people are feared trapped under the debris even as the rescue operation is underway.
The injured have been rushed to Lok Bandhu Hospital. Three of the deceased have been identified as one Pankaj Tiwari (40), Dheeraj Gupta (48) and Arun Sonkar (28) wihile identities of two of the deceased are yet to be ascertained.
"Rescue teams from the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) have been deployed to the scene and are working to extricate the trapped individuals," Relief Commissioner G.S. Naveen Kumar said.
The incident took place around 5 pm at Transport Nagar. Senior police and administrative officials have been rushed to the spot to oversee the rescue operations.
According to a PTI report, the building had a motor workshop and warehouse on the ground floor, a medical godown on the first floor and a cutlery warehouse on the second floor.
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, who is an MP from Lucknow, expressed grief over the loss of lives in the building collapse and said the local administration is carrying out the relief and rescue operations.
"The news of the collapse of a building in Lucknow is extremely painful. I have spoken to the District Magistrate of Lucknow over the phone and got information about the situation at the spot,” he said in a post on X.
Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath also took cognizance of the incident and directed officials to expedite the relief work.
“The Chief Minister has instructed the district administration officials, SDRF and NDRF teams to reach the spot and expedite the relief work and immediately take the injured to the hospital for proper treatment. He also wished for the speedy recovery of the injured," the chief minister’s office said.