Manual rescue operations at the Canacona building mishap site continued for the third day on Thursday to scour for survivors in the wreckage even as the death toll climbed to 25 with the recovery of another body.
Three bodies were retrieved on Wednesday night while one more body was pulled out this afternoon, Ashok Menon, in-charge of the rescue operation told PTI, even as a local court granted anticipatory bail to a municipal engineer involved in permitting the building.
Rescuers have managed to extract 16 people so far. More than 40 people were trapped under the debris when the under construction five-storey building caved in on Saturday afternoon.
The rescue work through drilling was withdrawn earlier this week after adjacent buildings began tilting precariously posing a threat of collapse, following which manual rescue operations were commenced on Tuesday.
The work to demolish these adjoining buildings will also begin on Thursday.
Goa police have already arrested Deputy Town Planner Prakash Bandodkar for illegally sanctioning permit to the building while several others including builders, contractor and a municipal engineer are untraceable.
Municipal Engineer Ajay Desai and three directors of a property firm (Bharat Realtors and Developers), constructing the structure, are still untraceable. Another accused municipal engineers Ashank Gaonkar was granted anticipatory bail by the court on Thursday.
