5storey building collapses in Khoda, no one feared trapped

GHAZIABAD: In yet another incident of building collapse, a five-storey under-repair building collapsed in Khoda’s Lokpriya Vihar locality on Friday evening. This is the fifth such incident in Noida and Ghaziabad over a span of 10 days.

The Ghaziabad district administration officials said as per the initial assessment, no one feared trapped or killed in the latest building collapse.

The building, a commercial site, was damaged a week ago when a crane slided off the highway and crashed into the ground floor of the building. Officials suspect that the heavy rain over the past couple of days further damaged the building structure.

“As a result of the impact of the crash, the building developed cracks and was evacuated. Over past few days, the cracks widened and the area was cordoned off as a precautionary measure on Friday evening. All security measures have been put in place and teams of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) along with administration officials and the local police have been roped in f or rescue work,” Ritu Maheshwari, Ghaziabad district magistrate, said.

According to residents, the building houses several shops, including a cloth shop in the basement, besides meat/fish shops and an ATM of a private bank.

The officials from the NDRF said the Ghaziabad officials have told them there was no one inside as the building. “However, we are still ensuring that no one is hurt. A search is on,” an NDRF officer said.