Dharwad building collapse: Death toll rises to 14, owners surrender to cops

Dharwad, Mar 22: Four owners of the under-construction building that collapsed in Dharwad surrendered to cops on Friday, three days after the tragedy as the death toll rose to 14. Till now more than 60 people have been rescued.

According to reports, one of the building owner Basavaraj blamed an engineer for the tragedy. On Thursday, police arrested the engineer, Vivek Pawar, from a lodge in Kolhapur, Maharashtra.

Deepa Cholan, District Commissioner, said, "Total 14 people have died. Yesterday, we rescued two people. Three more people are trapped in the debris. We have given oxygen and ORS to them. SDRF and NDRF teams are conducting rescue operation."

Former CM Jagadish Shettar, who visited the cite, sought Rs 10 lakh compensation to the kin of the deceased in the tragedy. He further asked the government to order a judicial probe into the incident.

Later in the day, CM HD Kumaraswamy visited the spot to take stock of the rescue operations.

CM HD Kumaraswamy said, "The rescue work at Dharwad building collapse site is on. I spoke to the Revenue Minister who is on site and the DC and took stock of the progress in rescue operations. I have told the Chief Secretary to make a detailed inquiry into the accident."

According to reports, most of those trapped were migrant labourers from north India who were engaged in laying tiles.

A case has been filed under section 304 (punishment for culpable homicide not amounting to murder) of the IPC against the owners of the building and a special team will be constituted to investigate the case and arrest the culprits.