Jammu: At least two workers died and six others were injured when a landslide hit an under-construction building near Mian Bagh area of Udhampur district.
The dead were identified as Anirudh Kumar Nayak, 42, son of Nand Kishore of Nayak Mohalla, Madhya Pradesh and Rakesh Kumar, son of Nasseb Chand of Satyalta Ghordi, Udhampur.
The incident occurred while construction work on a private building was going on and 11 labourers were busy at the site.
The landslide triggered by rains damaged the building.
The preliminary investigation of the Police found that the building had been damaged due to a landslide on the backside of the construction area.
Soon after getting information about the building collapse, locals, a Police team in Udhampur, paramilitary CRPF, and National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) launched a joint rescue and search operation to dig out people trapped underneath the debris of the collapsed buildings.
During the rescue operation, the joint teams managed to rescue six people alive from the debris and rushed them to the hospitals.
As the rescue operation proceeded, the rescue teams recovered two bodies of the workers from the landslide hit under-construction building.
“Tracking of their phone numbers it was determined that both the trapped individuals were located beneath the rubble,” Kartar Singh, the Second in Command (2IC) of CRPF 137 Bn in Udhampur said.
Additional Superintendent of Police (ASP) Udhampur, Anwar-ul-Haq said that they rescued six workers who were admitted at District Hospital Udhampur.
The injured have been identified as Devi Din Kushwah, 18, son of Ishwar Dayal; Shoket Ali, 25, son of Muhammed Qasim of Dandyal; Druvish Sharma, 18, son of Bishan Sharma of Saillan Talab; Master Mian, 45, son of Khilab Mian of Bihar at present Saillan Talab; Shamiya, 30, wife of Balram of Jojara Talab; and Thakur Dass, 25, son of Payare Lal of Saillan Talab.
The condition of Shamiya is stated to be critical.
Meanwhile, the district administration in Udhampur constituted an inquiry committee into the incident.
“Today, due to landslides in an under-construction building at Ward Number 21, Kaller Himiti in Udhampur, two labourers died on the spot and six were seriously injured,” reads an order issued by Additional District Magistrate, Udhampur, Joginder Singh.
Accordingly, a three-member committee consisting of Sub-Divisional Magistrate, Ramnagar (Chairman), Assistant Labour Commissioner, Udhampur, and Town Planner Udhampur as members has been constituted.
“This committee would submit a comprehensive report with specific recommendations, fixing of responsibility for lapses, if any, to this office within seven days positively,” the order said.