At least eight people are feared killed while 35 others trapped in the debris of two buildings that collapsed in the Vadodara district of Gujarat early Wednesday morning. According to reports, the buildings were constructed by the Vadodara Urban Development Authority (VUDA).
Among the four rescued alive till now, is a 12-year-old girl, Krishna Padhiyara, who was pulled out of the rubble nearly three hours after the collapse. She was rushed to the Swaminarayan BAPS hospital for treatment.
Following the incident, Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi confirmed it on twitter saying one of his ministers was already on his way to the site of the incident.
He posted a tweet: “Heard about the collapse of 2 buildings in Vadodara. Rescue operations have begun. My minister colleague Nitinbhai is on his way there.”
The first building collapsed at around 4:30 in the morning, while the adjacent building collapsed half an hour later.
Families living in the second building left soon after the first one collapsed, which saved several lives, officials said. Yet another building was partly damaged and was evacuated. Four persons were so far rescued alive by a team of army, National Disaster Relief Force, and city fire department pressed to carry out rescue operation.
The 12-year-old buildings were constructed by the Vadodara Urban Development Authority, each housing fourteen families.
Residents in Madhav Nagar society, which has thirty three similar buildings, said they had been approaching the VUDA officials since last at least two years after they noticed slabs and roofs of several buildings collapsing occasionally but officials turned blind eye to their complaints. The residents had taken possession of the building in 2002.
“We had given application to VUDA officials several times but officials said they were not responsible for the condition of the building,” a resident Gautam Pawar said. “We want to know who is responsible for the collapse that has left so many dead,” he said.