2 dead, dozens trapped in Karnataka building crash

NEW DELHI: At least two people have died and dozens are feared trapped under rubble after a building site collapsed on Tuesday in southern Karnataka state, officials said.

Rescue and ambulances were scrambling to Dharwad district, roughly 700 kilometres northwest of the state capital Bangalore, where the five-floor underconstruction apartment block crumbled.

“Two people have been killed in the collapse and eight have been rescued so far. We have pressed in men and machines to rescue those trapped,” Srikant, the district’s regional fire and emergency officer, who gave just one name, said.

Another regional emergency official said as many as 152 people were believed trapped beneath the rubble.

Nagesh D L, the district’s deputy commissioner of police, said eight people had been recovered from the rubble so far “including dead and alive”.

“We think there are still many people alive (underneath). The police still don’t have a clear idea... some locals say it is around 15, and some others have said it is over 50,” he said.

Hospitals in the district have been placed on alert and 20 ambulances sent to the accident site, said Dharwad’s top medical officer Giridhar Kokinad.

“Thirteen injured have been brought to the hospital. There are reports of some deaths but we can’t confirm the number,” he said.

Critics say many private builders use inferior construction material to cut corners on costs or bribe officials to bypass regulations. teams