Surat building collapse death toll rises to 7; FIR against owners, 1 person held

The death toll in the collapse of a six-storey building in Gujarat's Surat city has gone up to seven with the recovery of six more bodies overnight, police said on Sunday. A person who collected rent from the building occupants has been arrested and he and two owners of the structure have been booked on charges of culpable homicide not amounting to murder, they said.

The residential building, which was in a dilapidated condition and located in the Pal area, collapsed at around 2.45 pm on Saturday, as per the police.

A team of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), two teams of the State Disaster Response Force (SDRF), police personnel and fire brigade were involved in the rescue operation, the Surat police said in statement.

After around three hours of operation, they managed to rescue a 20-year-old woman, named Kashish Sharma, and rushed her to the hospital for treatment.

The body of a man was pulled out on Saturday night, an official earlier said.

Rescue teams later pulled out six more bodies from the debris, according to police.

Seven bodies were recovered from the debris in the operation that continued through the night, Sachin GIDC police station inspector Jignesh Chaudhari said.

The deceased, most of them textile workers from Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh, have been identified as Hiraman Kevat (40), Abhishek (35), Brijesh God (50), Shivpujan Kevat (26), Anmol Harijan (17), Parvesh Kevat (21), and Lalji Kevat (40), the statement said.

An FIR has been registered under Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita sections, including 105 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder), against the building owners Raj Kakadiya and his mother Ramilaben Kakadiya, and one Ashwin Vekariya, who collected rent from the occupants, inspector Chaudhari said.

Vekariya has been arrested and efforts are underway to nab the two other accused, he said.

Raj Kakadiya is currently in the US, as per the police.

As per the FIR, the dilapidated building was mostly vacant as the earlier occupants had left due to the danger it posed. A few families, however, continued to live there on rent.

On April 26 this year, the Surat Municipal Corporation issued a notice to the building's owner to get it vacated due to its dilapidated condition, the FIR stated.

The building's occupants repeatedly requested Vekariya to carry out repair works for damages caused to the structure but he told them the owners had refused it and they will get it done next year, it claimed.

The building was constructed in 2016-17, Surat Police Commissioner Anupam Singh Gehlot said on Saturday.

Around five flats were occupied, mostly by those who work in factories in the area, he said.

An NDRF official said the rescue operation concluded by around 9 am on Sunday.