Gzb building collapse: 5 killed, 5 others injured

Five members of the same family, including three children and two women died when the house they were in collapsed in Loni area of Ghaziabad on Tuesday. The incident took place on the intervening night of Monday and Tuesday when at least ten people were present inside the building at that time, said police officials.

“At around 12.15 am, we heard a loud explosion and before we could reach, the building fully collapsed. We informed police about the incident and without waiting for them to come, we started rescuing the people trapped under the debris. With the help of the police, we somehow managed to rescue five persons trapped,” said a neighbor who was present at the spot.

“Around ten members of a family including relatives were sleeping inside the house. The house was registered on one Imran’s name. We reached the spot and started carrying out the rescue operation. Imran’s wife, three children and sister-in-law died during the incident while the other five got injuries. The injured were taken to GTB hospital and other nearby hospital,” said Srikant Prajapati, circle officer, Loni, Ghaziabad.

The deceased were identified as Reshma (35), her three children Shama (8), Asiya (5) and Danish (6) and her sister Hasina (28).

“The two-storeyed building was built in a very small area with improper construction. Moreover, the walls of the house had developed cracks which are suspected to be the main reason behind the collapse. There was no other building present to share boundaries with and to give a support to the collapsed building,” added Prajapati.

When Ghaziabad Senior Superintendent of Police Deepak Kumar reached the spot, the local residents complained to him about the serious issue of no water drainage system present in the area due to which the area around the collapsed building always remains flooded which can be considered as one of the reasons for the building getting into adverse conditions. The SSP assured the people to inform the District Magistrate about the problem and make further inquiries related to the collapse.