20-year-old woman killed in Mohali building collapse; 12 feared trapped

A 20-year-old woman from Himachal was killed after a four-storey building collapsed at Sohana village around 5 pm here on Saturday. At least 12 persons are feared trapped in the rubble.

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Drishti Verma, a Theog native, was pulled out by rescuers but later succumbed to her injuries at the Sohana hospital. Sources said digging work was underway adjacent to the building's basement when the incident occurred.

The district administration called in the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), which was later joined by the Army to speed up the rescue operation. The NDRF used sniffer dogs to zero in on two locations for possible survivors.

The rescuers were using earthmoving equipment and cutters to reach the trapped victims. Fire tenders and medical teams had also been deployed. The building housed a gym frequented by youngsters. Some gym-goers were present inside the building when it collapsed suddenly, the sources said. The structure reportedly collapsed on the side where the digging work had been going on for the past few days.

Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann prayed for the well-being of the trapped victims and said the guilty would not be spared. “The administration and rescue teams are on the job. I am in touch with the administration,” he said.

Anandpur Sahib MP Malwinder Kang, Mohali MLA Kulwant Singh and former Health Minister Balbir Singh Sidhu reached the spot. Soon after the incident, power supply in the area was disrupted, triggering panic.