2 buried alive, 6 injured as HRTC building collapse

Shimla, Aug 4 (PTI) At least two persons were buried alive and six others injured, five of them seriously, when an old Himachal Road Transport corporation (HRTC) building collapsed following heavy rains in Theog, 32 kms from here, today. The incident took place this afternoon at the Theog bus stand when the two-storeyed building collapsed due to heavy rains and the people inside it were trapped under the debris, Additional District Magistrate Sunil Sharma said. Out of the eight persons rescued from the debris, two had died on the spot, he said, adding that the five critically injured persons were rushed to the Indira Gandhi Medical college hospital (IGMC) here and one person was admitted to a hospital in Theog. One of the deceased has been identified as Roshan Lal who worked as a booking clerk at the HRTC counter while the other person is yet to be identified. A National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) team has been called in from Sunni to assist the police, home guards and the fire brigade in the rescue operation, Sharma said. He said the government has announced an immediate relief of Rs 25,000 each to the kin of those killed while Rs 5,000 each to those seriously injured persons. The possibility of more bodies under the debris cannot be ruled out, the ADM said. He said a magisterial probe has been ordered into the incident. PTI