At least two persons were killed while several others were feared trapped after a three-storey building of a blanket-manufacturing factory collapsed in the Focal Point area near here, police said on Monday.
Over 57 people were rescued from the collapse site till mid-noon, Deputy Commissioner (Jalandhar) Priyank Bharti said, quoting personnel from the Fire Brigade and the Army.
“The entire factory building collapsed at around midnight yesterday [Sunday],” Mr. Bharti said, adding that the cause of the mishap was yet to be ascertained.
Chief of the National Disaster Response Force team, Commandant Musaffir, said his personnel found two bodies in the debris.
“Efforts are on to extricate them from the rubble,” he added. Two persons out of those rescued have suffered serious injuries and they have been admitted in the ICU unit of a nearby hospital.
There is, however, no confirmation yet on the exact number of people trapped.
Intermittent rain hampered rescue work.
“We have arrested Sheetal Vij, the factory owner. A case of culpable homicide not amounting to murder has been registered against Vij,” Police Commissioner Gaurav Yadav said.
Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal ordered a probe by a committee headed by Jalandhar Divisional Commissioner Anurag Verma.
The Punjab government announced a compensation of Rs. two lakh each to the kin of the deceased. It also announced a compensation of Rs. 65,000 each to the seriously injured and Rs. 45,000 each to persons with minor injuries.
