Secunderabad Collapse: Death toll rises to 17; GHMC starts demolition drive

HYDERABAD: The death toll in the collapse of a Secunderabad hotel building mounted to 17 today with four more bodies being pulled out from under the debris even as GHMC launched a drive to demolish unsafe buildings.

"Fifteen people are undergoing treatment for injuries they sustained in the collapse of City Light Hotel and Bakery on Rashtrapati Road yesterday," Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) Commissioner M T Krishna Babu told PTI.

The removal of the debris would continue tonight as well, he said.

The nearly 80-year-old two-storeyed building crumbled yesterday morning.

Police said that son of the hotel owner was one of the victims in the mishap.

"The injured were shifted to state-run Gandhi Hospital, where five among them were discharged while doctors performed surgeries on four others," an official said.

Meanwhile, the GHMC began a drive to demolish unsafe buildings and verify the safety of old buildings.

A combination of factors like construction of furnaces for cooking in the upper floor and seepage from a water tank have been cited as the possible reasons for the collapse.

A police case of negligence had also been registered against hotel owners.

The eatery was a favourite for morning tea and snacks for a large number of people, especially those belonging to the working class.