Greater Noida building collapse toll rises to 9

Lucknow: The death toll in the Greater Noida building collapse has gone up to 9 even as rescue operations continued for the second consecutive day.

Five more bodies were taken out by Thursday night and sources say that some more people could be trapped under the debris.

The mishap occurred on Tuesday night when a six-floor under-construction building crashed on a five-storied building next to it, bringing it down as well. The incident took place in Shahberi village under Bisrakh police station. At least 12 labourers were in the building when the mishap took place. A dozen families were living in the adjacent building that also came crashing down.

Meanwhile, UP chief minister Yogi Adityan-ath, on Wednesday night, ordered the suspension of two officials for dereliction of duty and asked the Meerut divisional commissioner to conduct an inquiry to determine the extent of illegal construction in the area.

Nearly 150 personnel of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) mounted a rescue operation along with the police and the fire department.

Heavy machinery was deployed to shift concrete slabs and drills were used to reach people buried under the debris. Sniffer dogs were also used to detect any sign of life.

NDRF has been exercising caution while operating the machines so that those trapped under the debris are not harmed and this has led to slowing down of the rescue operations.

Meanwhile, UP chief minister Yogi Adityanath, on Wednesday night, ordered the suspension of two officials for dereliction of duty and asked the Meerut divisional commissioner to conduct an inquiry to determine the extent of illegal construction in the area.

The probe will also determine if the quality of the building material was up to the mark and the construction workers were registered in accordance with the labour laws.

Gautam Buddha Nagar district magistrate Brajesh Narain Singh has also ordered an investigation into the mishap, to be completed within 15 days.

According to reports, at least one of the two buildings was unauthorized.

A state government statement said a magisterial probe will find out whether the buildings were under the jurisdiction of the Greater Noida Development Authority and if a no-objection certificate (NOC) was obtained before carrying out the construction.

The chief minister has announced a compensation of Rs 2 lakhs each for the kin of the deceased and Rs 50, 000 for the injured.

Local residents claimed that some builders had purchased land directly from the farmers and developed an unauthorised colony.

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