After 18 hours of restless rescue work 59 injured have been rescued from the collapsed shopping complex which occured on Tuesday afternoon at Kumareshwar Nagar.
While four people, including a woman, have died, the police sources suspected that 40 more people might be trapped under the debris.
Deputy commissioner Deepa Cholan said around 30-40 persons are trapped under the debris, apart from the 28 people who have been rescued till now.
The shopping complex that came down allegedly belongs to a relative of former Mines and Geology minister Vinay Kulkarni, is said to have been under construction for the past two years.
It is said that the construction of two floors out of the five planned was completed. Shops on the ground and first floors were rented out to hotels, grocery shops and other businesses. It is said that there were no construction workers at the site as Tuesday was a holiday for them.
However, many people were inside the shops in these two floors at the time of the incident.
The building came crashing down a little after 3 pm, triggering panic among those in it and the neighbours. On receiving information, the police rushed to the spot.
Fire tenders and ambulances were pressed into service and rescue operations began which continued till late night under the floodlights.
Twenty-eight people who were injured were shifted to KIMS Hospital in Hubballi and Dharwad District Hospital.
One of the deceased is Saleem Makandar (28) while the identity of the other is yet to be established.
"I have instructed the chief secretary to supervise rescue operations. I have also directed the CS to send additional resources and expert rescuers by a special flight to Dharwad," Karnataka Chief Minister Kumaraswamy tweeted.
It is said the building is owned by a relative of former minister Vinay Kulkarni. “There are six partners and one of them is my relative,” said Kulkarni.
Deputy Commissioner Deepa Cholan said, “The rescue operation began within a few minutes of the collapse of the building. An NDRF team will reach the city by midnight. The exact number of those dead or trapped can be ascertained only by tomorrow.”
Complaint Registered
Hubballi-Dharwad Municipal Corporation officer had registered the complaint against the Hubballi based Renuka Construction Company and the collapsed building owners. A case has been registered at a suburban police station.
An HDMC officer said the construction company has taken the completion certificate for the Ground floor plus above two floors. The HDMC officers check the violation according to submitted the map. The quality control and others will be checked by the concerned construction company and the owners, he added.
Parents and Relatives Surrounded the Collapsed Building
The parents and relatives of shop owners have surrounded the collapsed building and waiting for the rescue team to rescue their people from the debris. In a view to rescuing at the earliest few family members and friends have also joined the hands with the rescue team.
Few family members and nearby residents distributed food packets and water packets for the rescue team.
Public Expresses Dissatisfaction
The public expressed dissatisfaction over the working style of the local police. The public said that they were busy in rescue work but few policemen forced such people to go away from the spot. However the public said, at the early hours the team was not aware of the basic things like the map of the construction building and others.
Civil engineers, private doctors, students, businessmen were involved in the rescue work till Wednesday morning
(With inputs from Express News Service)