10 dead as building struck by car collapses

Freak accident latest building disaster in a country infamous for poor construction, safety standards

NEW DELHI: Ten people have died after a car crashed into a dilapidated building in central India and brought down the near century-old structure, burying them beneath rubble, police said yesterday.

The freak accident in Indore on Saturday evening is the latest building disaster in a country infamous for poor construction and safety standards.

The driver lost control of his vehicle and struck a pillar holding up the near 100-year-old structure, said police deputy inspector general Harinarayanchari Mishra.

“The impact was such that the entire building collapsed,” he told AFP.

“Rescue workers pulled out 12 people from the rubble, 10 of them were already dead. The other two are being treated in hospital.”

Images from the scene showed battered and bloodied corpses being pulled from twisted piles of brick and concrete. The rubble

The impact was such that the entire building collapsed. Harinarayanchari Mishra, police deputy inspector general

was being cleared with cranes and industrial equipment.

Building disasters are common in Indian cities where millions are forced to live in cramped, rundown properties due to spiralling real estate prices and a lack of proper housing.

Activists say owners often cut corners on construction to save costs with little regard to safety.

Some 30 people perished in September last year when a 117year-old apartment building collapsed in India’s financial hub of Mumbai.

And in 2013, 60 people were killed when a residential block came crashing down in one of the country’s worst housing disasters. — AFP

— AFP photos This photograph shows Indian police, rescue teams and residents taking part in rescue operations after a building collapsed in Indore, in the central state of Madhya Pradesh.

This photograph shows Indian residents recovering the body of a woman during rescue operations.