LUCKNOW: The death toll in the cold storage roof collapse in Sambhal rose to 11, while 21 persons were rescued from under the debris on Friday. The rescue and relief operation continued on the second day at the site where the roof of cold storage had collapsed suddenly in western UP’s Chandausi area of Sambhal district in on Thursday afternoon.
Two persons had died and 11 were rescued from under the rubble by late Thursday night. As per official sources, while the teams of NDRF and SDRF were carrying out search operations, approximately three of the 21 persons rescued were found to be severely injured.
The state government has announced ex-gratia of two lakh rupees to the family of the deceased and Rs 50,000 for those who were injured in the incident. State Animal Husbandry Minister Dharampal Singh visited the mishap site and assured the local people of the strictest action against those responsible for the incident. The district horticulture officer of Sambhal was already put under suspension in connection with the incident.
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According to the district and police administration, the rescue teams had availed sniffer dogs for the search and rescue operation to locate the trapped victims.
"NDRF is searching for the trapped people with the help of sniffer dogs. We have increased our force for rescue operations since morning. Other teams of NDRF and SDRF will also join the operation shortly," said Sambhal DM Manish Bansal. He also said that an FIR was registered against the owners – Ankur Agarwal and Rohit Agarwal – of the cold storage. Both owners were booked under Section 304 of the IPC.
“We have detained four people for questioning. The main accused are absconding and we are looking for them. We will be able to tell the real reason for the collapse only after the debris is removed,” said Moradabad DIG Shalabh.
According to the DIG, an ADM-level inquiry into the incident is also underway. “The part of the cold storage that has collapsed was constructed some time ago and it was not constructed as per the laid down standards," he said.
“Some more people are missing. There is a basement in the building and we are trying
to reach there," said DIG Mathur who is monitoring the relief and rescue operations since Thursday. The incident happened around 11.30 am on Thursday. Earlier, it was reported that the godown was already in a ruined state.