Soldiers among 12 killed in India building collapse
The army personnel along with their family members were going to Uttarakhand and had stopped at the restaurant for lunch
Twelve people, including army men, died in India as a building in Himachal Pradesh’s Solan area collapsed triggered likely by heavy rains on Sunday.
Rescue team saved 17 people -12 civilians and five soldiers- from the rubble of the multi-storey building, which housed a restaurant, is some 45km from Himachal’s capital town Shimla.
Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Jairam Thakur visiting the site told news agency ANI: "The incident is very unfortunate. Rescue operation was started immediately. Investigation order to find the causes behind the collapse has been given. As per information we have received, the building structure was not as per specifications."
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The injured, including the wife of the restaurant owner, were taken to local hospitals.
Reportedly the army personnel along with their family members were going to Uttarakhand and had stopped at the restaurant for lunch, a district official said, according to PTI.
In the meantime, two teams of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) of India has been carrying out rescue operation, while another team on their way to the accident site.
Rescue operations have been being continued to save those trapped inside the building since the collapse on Sunday, said the Chief Minister.
Heavy downpour over the night has caused massive mudslides along the Chandigarh-Shimla national highway, leading acute traffic jams in the area.
The highway stretch in Solan has also been affected from the mudslides, according to news agency IANS.
