This Article is From Apr 18, 2012

Jalandhar factory collapse: Toll up to 6

Jalandhar factory collapse: Toll up to 6
Rescuers rummaged through the rubble to locate possible survivors as the death toll from the collapse of an industrial building here rose to six with the recovery of four more bodies today.

Visiting the scene, Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal announced that special safety audits would be conducted in all industrial units in the state to prevent such mishaps.

The audits would be conducted by Industries and Local Government departments to ascertain both latent and patent defects in buildings, he told reporters here.

Racing against time, rescuers sifted through the debris to extricate those still believed to be trapped in the rubble of the three-storey factory building which collapsed on Sunday in Focal Point area.

The death toll rose to six with the recovery of four more bodies today, District Magistrate Priyank Bharti said.

"We have so far retrieved six bodies from the rubble. Two were extricated last night," he said.

Sixty people had been rescued, the DM said adding several were still feared to be trapped and efforts were on to rescue them.

"Of the 60 rescued, 50 were discharged last night after medical treatment. Three among the injured are serious. Most of the workers of the factory are from Bihar and Jharkhand," he said.

Last night, police had arrested the factory owner and registered a case of culpable homicide not amounting to murder against him.

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