Gurugram building collapse: builder booked, NDRF joins rescue operation; 2 trapped under debris

The builder of a residential tower here has been booked after a portion of it collapsed, killing one person and trapping two, officials said on Friday. Operations are underway to rescue the trapped people and an inquiry has also been ordered into the matter, they said.

The builder of Chintels Paradiso has been booked on the complaint of the husband of the woman who was killed in the incident on Thursday night, the officials said. Gurugram Deputy Commissioner Nishant Kumar Yadav has ordered the inquiry, they said.

“Special inquiry team has been constituted and it will look into the allegations of negligence. Rescue operations are underway,” Yadav said.

The officials said the dining room floor of a sixth-floor apartment at Chintels Paradiso housing complex in sector 109 first came down, triggering the collapse of roofs and floors directly under it, till the first floor.

Teams from the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and the State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) are carrying out rescue works. Earth-moving machines and a fire brigade vehicle with an elevated platform have deployed.

The deceased was identified as Ekta Bhardwaj (31), a senior official said, adding that Arun Kumar Srivastava and his wife Sunita Srivastava are trapped under the rubble. Ekta Bhardwaj’s husband Rajesh Bharadwaj of Block-D of the complex has filed the complaint, the officials said.

"I got a call from my son Yatharth Bhardwaj that the ceiling of some floors of our tower have collapsed. In the incident my wife suffered injuries. She passed away around 7 pm,” he said in his complaint.

Rajesh Bharadwaj said that after he came from office, he saw that the ceiling of the sixth and seventh floors had collapsed. Rescue and police teams were working on the spot and after removal of debris my wife's body was recovered and taken to hospital, he said.

“This incident has happened due to negligence and substandard construction work done by MD-Chintels group Ashok Saloman and contractor of construction. There could be more fatalities and injuries to other flat resident of D-tower kindly take necessary legal action against the accused, " Rajesh Bharadwaj said in his complaint.

Deputy Commissioner of Police Deepak Saharan said, "FIR has been registered and probe is on. Action will be taken as per the law". Following the complaint an FIR has been registered against the builder and construction contractor under Indian Penal Code sections 304A (causing death by negligence) and 34 (common intention) at the Bajghera police station.