Factory building collapses in Parwanoo, one killed

Tribune News Service

Solan, November 23

One labourer was killed while another was trapped under the rubble of the four-storey building of AG Appliances (Pvt) Limited in Sector 2 of Parwanoo town that collapsed around 1.30 pm today. The building was lying vacant for quite some time and four labourers were engaged to repair it.

The Deputy Commissioner, Solan, requisitioned a 15-member National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) team from Pinjore around 4.30 pm to rescue the trapped labourers. The team immediately began its operation with the help of special equipment and took out one of the trapped labourers Surman, hailing from Bihar, around 7.30 pm. He was taken to the ESIC Hospital, Parwanoo, where he was declared brought dead. The operation was still on to rescue other labourer Naresh, who belongs to Hamirpur.

Since morning a team of Home Guards jawans, police and firemen was engaged in rescuing the labourers with the help of earth excavators. It, however, failed to do much due to large scale debris, which had to be removed with caution.

Vinay Singla had purchased the company’s building recently and four labourers were engaged to repair it. The repair work was underway there for the past two weeks. According to the police, the mishap occurred when the labourers were having lunch. The base of the building had been dug up with an earth excavation machine, which weakened the old structure and it gave way. Two other labourers Santosh and Vijay were pushed out of the building due to the impact of the collapse. Naresh was engaged to oversee the electricity fitting in the building.

The Deputy Commissioner, Kasauli SDM and the SP oversaw the rescue operation. SP Virender Sharma said that a joint rescue operation was underway. Meanwhile, the police have registered a case under Sections 336, 337 and 304-A of the IPC against the building owner and the contractor, who had engaged the labourers.