Rescue operation underway after a building collapsed, in Surat, Sunday.
Credit: PTI Photo
Ahmedabad: The death toll in the Surat building collapse incident reached seven on Sunday. Officials said that the rescue work is still going on as there could be more people trapped under the debris.
The victims were labourers from the textile industry who were living in the building as tenants. Police have identified the victims as Hiraman Kevat, 40, Abhishek Kevat, 35, Shivpujan Kevat, 26, Parvesh Kevat, 21, Lalji Kevat, 40, Brijesh Gaud, 50 and Anmol, 17. Anmol alias Sahil is learnt to have come from Ayodhya, his native, to meet his brother Shubham, just four days ago.
A police officer said that prima facie a criminal case has been made out and an FIR has been registered against the owner of the building identified as Ramilaben Kakadiya, her son Jay while another person identified as Ashwin Vekariya, who was collecting rent, has been arrested.
The accused have been booked under section 105 of Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) which deals with culpable homicide not amounting to murder. Police said that most of the victims were from Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh.
The five-storeyed building had 30 flats and four to five were occupied when it fell. Teams of National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) and fire officers were continuing the rescue work.