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| Army and National Disaster Response Force personnel search for survivors among debris of the factory in Jalandhar on Monday. (PTI) |
Purnea, April 16: Three persons from the district died when a three-storeyed building of a blanket-manufacturing factory collapsed in Jalandhar, Punjab, last night.
The deceased have been identified as Arbind Mandal, Bablu Chaudhary and Ajit Kumar. The three, aged between 32 and 35 years, were residents of Sapaha village under Rupauli police station of Purnea.
At least 100 labourers, including Promod Singh of Baigna village of Purnea and Pankaj Kumar of Musapur village of Katihar district, are missing after the factory of Shital Fibres Limited in the Focal Point area collapsed. Although rescue operation is on, intermittent rains in Jalandhar have hampered it.
The village head of Sapaha panchayat in Purnea, Ashok Mandal, told The Telegraph: “Three persons from my panchayat, who used to work in the blanket manufacturing company in Jalandhar, have died in the accident. Some of their co-workers informed us today that the building of the factory collapsed after a gas cylinder exploded last night.”
He added that the bereaved family members have left for Jalandhar to bring back the bodies. Purnea district magistrate and collector N. Saravana Kumar confirmed that the three labourers from Sapaha village have died.
“Block-level officials had gone to the village to ascertain the identity of the deceased. We have extended them all our co-operation to bring back the bodies. We plan to offer compensation of Rs 1 lakh each to the families under Pravasi Majdoor Anudaan Yojana. We would process the related files as soon as the bodies are brought to the district.” Quoting personnel engaged in the rescue operation, deputy commissioner (Jalandhar) Priyank Bharti said around 57 people were rescued from the debris till mid noon.
He added that the factory collapsed around midnight but the cause was yet to be ascertained.
Although official figures state at least 100 persons are missing, other labourers put the numbers at over 400. The company had 2,000 employees.
