Bengaluru under-construction building collapse: Death count rises to 5, 13 rescued

Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar said the building was illegal and strict action will be taken in this matter.

Bengaluru under-construction building collapse: At least five workers died after an under-construction seven-storey building collapsed in the Babusapalya here on Tuesday amid heavy rains, officials said. Two rescue vans from the fire and emergency department have been pressed into rescue operations. They said the incident occurred at a time when the city was witnessing a heavy downpour.

A fire department official said that, according to a preliminary investigation, the entire building collapsed, trapping the people underneath. Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar visited the spot and took stock of the situation. He said that out of the 13 rescued, five were in the hospital. Shivakumar said the building was illegal and strict action will be taken in this matter.

Vakeel Paswan, a labourer who jumped off the building to save himself, recounted his experience. "Of the four of us, three of us came out. The fourth one got stuck...I am unable to understand anything...I was working on the 6th floor...I worked as a labourer...We worked and stayed here."

Meanwhile, five people were killed in rain-related incidents in Bengaluru, which has been reeling under incessant rains for the past three days, bringing several residential areas and roads under knee-deep water. Five teams of the National Disaster Response Force and State Disaster Response Force were deployed to evacuate marooned people with the help of coracles in the country's IT capital.