Punjab news: Five labourers were buried under the lanter of a two-storey house that suddenly collapsed while the workers were working on jacking up the lanter in Preet Colony of Rupnagar in Punjab.
District officials and fire brigade officers were at the spot for rescue work. Later, ITBP police, NDRF and SDRF teams were also called for relief work.
Rupnagar DC, Preeti Yadav said, "We have the information that 5 labourers are buried under the lanter. People's safety is important and hence technical experts are at work. About the incident, the proper inquiry will be done. We are providing NDRF, SDRF and ITBP teams with all the equipment they need. We have vacated the neighbours and asked them not to panic and to cooperate with us in the rescue work."
The incident took place when six labourers were engaged in the process of raising the level of the house, they said, adding that one worker has been rescued. The injured labourer was rushed to PGIMER, Chandigarh, police said.
Teams of National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), State Disaster Response Force (SDRF), Punjab Police and fire brigade are trying to rescue the five labourers trapped under the debris, they said. A loud explosion took place when the building caved-in.
House owner Rajinder Kaur said they had built this house in 1984. They were doing the work of lifting the lintel of the house.
Deputy Commissioner Preeti Yadav said the first priority of the administration was to safely rescue all the trapped labourers. An inquiry would be conducted into the incident, she said.
Yadav along with Senior Superintendent of Police Gulneet Khurana were supervising the rescue operation.
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