LUCKNOW: At least seven persons were killed and over 30 were trapped under the debris of an under-construction roof of a cold storage which collapsed in the Daurala area of Meerut district on Friday.
As per the local police sources, senior administrative and police officials including Meerut Divisional commissioner Selva Kumari J, IG Praveen Kumar, SSP Rohit Singh along with a team of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) rushed to the spot to carry out rescue operations.
The police sources added that till the evening around 26 persons were taken out of the rubble and efforts were on to trace others. Four persons were said to be critical.
The cold storage belonged to a former BSP MLA Chandra Veer Singh. As per sources, on Friday afternoon when around 40 labourers were working, the cylinder of the refrigerator blasted, leaking ammonia gas. Owing to the blast, the shuttering of the lintel came down leading the roof to collapse.