Guntur Building Collapse: 6 Killed

Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy, on Thursday, ordered a probe into the collapse of an under-construction school building at Donka Road in Guntur district, in which 6 labourers were killed.

Expressing serious concern over the deaths, the CM directed Guntur District Collector Vishnu to personally supervise the relief and rescue operations, and to provide better medical assistance to those injured in the incident.

Meanwhile, Joint Collector N Yuvaraj has been appointed as the investigation officer, and he has been asked to submit a report on the mishap soon.

According to reports, 5 labourers were killed on the spot, and another succumbed to injuries in hospital, when an under-construction school building collapsed.

5 other labourers received serious injuries.

Among the victims, 4 are women. The deceased have been identified as Padma, Venkata Lakshmi, Vara Lakshmi, Nagamani and Venkateswarlu.

All the deceased were residents of NTR Colony.

A few more labourers were suspected to be trapped under the debris, and efforts were on rescue them.

Guntur Municipal Corporation commissioner Sudhakar said that Narayana School had taken up the construction work without taking permission from the authorities concerned. He said that a criminal case has been lodged against the Bangalore-based company.

Range Inspector General Harish Kumar Gupta said that severe action would be initiated against the construction company for violating building norms during the construction of the school building.

Red Cross Guntur has announced an ex-gratia of Rs. 25,000 for the families of victims. (INN)