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Rediff.com  » News » Six killed, 40 injured as hotel building collapses in Ahmedabad

Six killed, 40 injured as hotel building collapses in Ahmedabad

February 03, 2008 14:57 IST
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At least six persons were killed and over 40 injured when a hotel building collapsed in Kalupur area of Ahmedabad early on Sunday morning.

Out of the 30 rescued from the debris of the three-storey hotel building, five have died. Many of the injured are in a critical condition, fire brigade officials said.

"More people are still feared trapped under the debris," officials said.

Massive rescues operations are on at the site with fire brigade using cranes and other heavy machines to rescue those trapped under the debris.

"We have put all our force in the rescue work and we will rescue all those trapped in about one or two hours," Ahmedabad municipal commissioner I P Gautam told PTI.

Fire brigade sources said that the 25-year-old hotel structure was weak and the owners had started work to repair it. "The probable reason of the collapse was the work going on inside the hotel," fire brigade officials said.

Construction work was going on in the adjacent building of the hotel and that might have also affected the building structure, officials said.

They added that the hotel should not have rented rooms when they were working on 'strengthening the structure' of the hotel. The hotel was built in 1985.

The state government has announced compensation of Rs one lakh to the kin of those who have died in the incident.

Chief minister Narendra Modi has called a meeting of the state disaster management group. State home minister Amit Shah has rushed to the spot to supervise relief and rescue operations.

State health minister Jaynarayan Vyas has reached the city civil hospital to oversee medical help being extended to the injured.

Sniffer dogs have been pressed into service to locate the people buried under the debris. Some adjoining hotels have been vacated as a precautionary measure. Road traffic surrounding the spot has also been affected.

Reportage: UNI, PTI

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