At least 13 people were killed and 18 others injured when the 90-year-old two-storeyed building of City Light Hotel and Bakery collapsed at RP Road in Secunderabad on Monday. It is feared that 40 people, including the restaurant staff, were inside the building when a major part of the building came down at 6.15 am.
Twenty people were rescued from the collapsed building, but more are feared trapped under the debris. Rescue work was going on when reports last came.
The injured were rushed to Gandhi Hospital.
Police suspects that the building started collapsing from the second floor, where the kitchen is located and food materials such as sacks of wheat were kept, and where bhattis to prepare Ramzan were built.
“In the initial inquiry, we have come to know that quintals of materials like wheat were kept on the floor. A detailed investigation will further reveal the reason behind the mishap,” said North Zone Task Force DCP R. Jayalakshmi.
Mahankali police has booked a case against building owner Syed Hassan Booluki for causing death due to negligence under IPC Section 304. His son is believed dead in the rubble, while Mr Booluki suffered a heart attack.
Most of the dead and injured were hotel workers and early morning customers, mainly labourers, including some from the GHMC. Some of the employees were asleep on the second floor while others were working in the adjacent kitchen or serving customers on the ground floor. Around seven people ran out of one portion of the ground floor before the roof came down.
The rescue mission was started by the locals and police personnel that were passing by the area at the time of the incident. The rescue team of the fire department and police started rescue work within half an hour of the collapse.
Hyderabad police commissioner Anurag Sharma, who is monitoring the rescue work, said that a team of experts had been called in.
“We are taking the help of experts and disaster management team to remove the debris and rescue the trapped victims,” Mr Sharma said.
The fire brigade and security forces including CISF, RAF and local police, are continuing with the rescue operations. The State Disaster Management team is also involved.