At least 15 killed in wall collapse in Pune

At least 15 people, including four children, were killed when a portion of the compound wall of a housing society collapsed on shanties adjacent to it in Kondhwa here in the early hours of Saturday. The shanties were set up for labourers working in a nearby construction site.

A fire brigade official said incessant rains might have led to the collapse of the wall. Pune received 73.1 millimetres of rain on Friday, the second highest rainfall in June since 2010. According to the police, a portion of the 12 to 15-feet-high wall collapsed between 1.30 and 1.45 am.

The fire brigade, a team of National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) personnel and police rushed to the spot to carry out rescue operations. “At least 15 people -- nine men, two women and four children --- have been killed in the incident, and three got injured,” an officer of Kondhwa police station said. Police had earlier said that 17 people were killed in the incident.

A fire brigade official said that the victims were natives of either Bihar or Uttar Pradesh. All the injured have been shifted to hospital and District Collector Naval Kishore Ram visited the spot of the incident. “We have ordered an inquiry into the incident and those responsible will be punished,” he said.

Fadnavis orders inquiry

Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis ordered an in-depth inquiry into the incident of wall collapse. “Extremely saddened to know about loss of lives in the Kondhwa, Pune wall collapse incident. My deepest condolences to the families and praying for speedy recovery of the injured. Directed Pune Collector to conduct an in-depth enquiry,” Fadnavis said on Twitter.

State Congress chief Ashok Chavan also expressed his grief over the incident and urged the state government to extend all the help to the families of the dead and injured. Chavan said an inquiry should be carried out “so that the guilty can be punished.”