SP spokesperson's wife, mother killed in Lucknow building collapse

Lucknow: Two women have died and two more people are still feared trapped a day after a multi-storey building collapsed in Lucknow.

Rescue personnel drawn from various agencies have been working round the clock since the building collapse in the Hazratganj area in the Uttar Pradesh capital Tuesday evening and the hope of pulling out anyone alive from the debris is diminishing by the minute.

The deceased were identified as Samajwadi Party spokesperson Abbas Haider's wife Uzma Haider and mother Begum Haider.

Begum Haider, 87, who was pulled out of the debris Wednesday morning after a nightlong rescue operation, was rushed to a hospital, where she died.

It seems that she had suffered internal injuries, State Director General of Police D S Chouhan told reporters.

Uzma Haider, 30, died at the civil hospital, Health Minister Brajesh Pathak told PTI.

More than a dozen people have been pulled out of the debris so far and at least two more are still feared trapped, a senior official said.

An FIR was registered on Wednesday against the builder of Alaya Apartments under IPC sections 323 (voluntary causing hurt), 308 (attempt to commit culpable homicide), 420 (fraud), 120B (criminal conspiracy) and section 7 of the Criminal Law Amendment Act.

The FIR was registered against Mohammad Tariq, Nawajish Shahid and Fahad Yazdani at Hazratganj police station, officials said here.

Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath ordered setting up of a three-member committee to probe the incident and submit a report within a week.

A government spokesman said that the three-member team constituted by the chief minister comprises Lucknow Divisional Commissioner Roshan Jacob, Joint Commissioner of Police Piyush Mordia and the Public Works Department chief engineer.

This committee will identify those responsible for the incident and submit its report in a week's time, the spokesman said.

A report from Meerut said that police have detained Nawazish, the son of former minister and SP MLA Shahid Manzoor, for questioning in connection with the collapse of the five-storey Alaya Apartment.

Meerut SSP Rohit Singh Sajwan said Nawazish has been taken to Lucknow for questioning.

"All we know is that the five-storey Alaya Apartment that has collapsed in Lucknow is said to have been sold by him," Sajwan said.

Shahid Manzoor is a senior SP leader in western Uttar Pradesh and currently represents Kithore in the Assembly. He has been an MLA in 2002, 2007 and 2012 and was a cabinet minister in the Akhilesh Yadav government from 2012 to 2017.

Lucknow divisional commissioner Roshan Jacob has directed Lucknow Development Authority officials to take action against building owners Mohammad Tareef, Nawazish Shahid as well as Yazdan Builders and ordered lodging a case against them.

The DC has also ordered that other buildings constructed by Yazdan Builders in Lucknow city should be identified and inspected. If they are found illegal or of poor quality, they should be demolished, he said.

A doctor attending to the patients admitted in the Civil Hospital said the people rescued have sustained external injuries and are in a state of shock. CT scan and X-rays have been done and there is no major injury seen in any of them. The team of specialists are present, he said.

Chief Minister Adityanath is keeping a watch on the rescue operations, a government spokesman said According to Deputy Chief Minister Brijesh Pathak, all hospitals in the district are on alert. There were 12 flats in the four-storey building, of which nine were occupied, he said.

"Our prime concern, as of now, is to ensure that all the victims are rescued and given proper medical attention," Pathak said, adding that stern action will be taken against all those who are found responsible for the incident.

Personnel of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and the State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) are engaged in the rescue work, while senior officials are overseeing the operation.

The rescue work is going on continuously. Twelve companies each of the NDRF and the SDRF are engaged in rescue work and four companies of PAC have also been deployed. The Army was also involved in the rescue operations.

The Director General of Police said, "When the investigation is done it will be known how the building collapsed but what is prima facie visible is that the building was constructed with very substandard material. This could be one of the reasons for the collapse." The Director General of Police said that in 2009, two floors of this building were built, but permission was not obtained from the Lucknow Development Authority and later three more floors were added.