Hours after the wall of an apartment complex in Pune’s Kondhwa collapsed on to adjacent shanties, killing at least 15 persons on Saturday, 29 June, it has emerged that all the deceased were migrants from Bihar. The deceased, who include family members of labourers employed at a neighbouring construction site, had been living in temporary shelters set up near the site.
Developers of Alcon Stylus housing society and accused in the incident – Vipul Agrawal and Vivek Agrawal – were sent to police custody till 2 July by the Pune sessions court.
WHO WERE THE VICTIMS?
According to a report by The Indian Express, among the victims are 10 men, four children and one woman. Of these, three belonged to Mahisal in Katihar district of Bihar, while the remaining 12 hailed from Balrampur in the same district, reported the daily.
The Indian Express report further identified the deceased as:
- Alok Sharma (28),
- Mohan Sharma (24),
- Ravi Sharma (19),
- Aman Sharma (19),
- Laxmikant Sahani (22),
- Sunil Singh (35),
- Ovi Daas (2),
- Sonali Das (6),
- Bhima Das (38),
- Sangeeta Devi (26),
- Ajitkumar Sharma (7),
- Rekhalkumar Sharma (5),
- Neeva Devi (30),
- Deepranjan Sharma and
- Avadesh Singh.
Apart from those killed, three persons were also rescued from the debris and have been admitted at a hospital for treatment.
HEARD A BIG NOISE: SURVIVOR RECOUNTS INCIDENT
Bimal Sharma, one of the survivors of the wall-collapse tragedy in Kondhwa area, said the noise was so loud that he felt the whole building had come crashing down on his shanty.
"Around 1.30 am, when we all were asleep, I heard a big noise and thought the entire building had collapsed on our houses," he said, according to PTI.
"I found that my legs were trapped under the debris so I started shouting for help. Luckily some people from adjoining shanties heard me and rescued me," Sharma added. It was only after being rescued he realized that the compound wall had fallen on the shanties.
Sharma's brother was among those killed, PTI reported.
BIHAR CM ANNOUNCES RS 2 LAKH EX-GRATIA COMPENSATION
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar expressed his condolences over the deaths, announcing an ex-gratia compensation of Rs 2 lakh each to the next of the kin of the deceased and a compensation of Rs 50,000 to the injured.
Meanwhile, district collector Naval Kishore Ram said that the bodies of those deceased will be transported to Bihar by Sunday morning after post-mortem. The Maharashtra government will further coordinate with the Bihar government to help the affected families, reported The Indian Express.
Additionally, the Maharashtra government has also set up an inquiry into the incident, and announced a compensation of Rs 5 lakh for the victims’ next of kin.
(With inputs from The Indian Express and PTI.)
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