Eleven persons were killed and six others were injured, as several remained trapped in debris, after two buildings crashed in Vadodara in the early hours of Wednesday.
Between 4.30 a.m. and 4.45 a.m., one of the buildings constructed by the Vadodara Urban Development Authority collapsed. Another building nearby came down within an hour.
Personnel of the Army, the National Disaster Relief Force and the Fire Department quickly launched rescue and relief operations, which continued till evening. Gujarat Finance Minister Nitin Patel, Education Minister Bhupendrasinh Chudasama and Energy Minister Saurabh Patel, an MLA from Akota in Vadodara, reached the spot. Chief Minister Narendra Modi has announced a compensation of Rs. 2 lakh for the kin of those killed and said the government would take care of the treatment of the injured.
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“The first priority is to rescue those still trapped in the debris,” Mr. Nitin Patel told reporters. The buildings, he said, housed 14 families each. Meanwhile, the government has set up a high-level commission of inquiry, headed by the retired Chief Secretary, Manjula Subramaniam