17 Die in India Building Collapse

A five-story structure collapsed on Sunday in Goa, India and 17 people are confirmed dead.  At least 22 people were rescued from the wreckage by late Sunday.  Rescue workers continue to dig through the rubble in hopes of finding other workers trapped below debris from the fallen building, but had to halt efforts Monday when the two next-door buildings started developing cracks.  Police are currently investigating the cause of the collapse but they have not been able to locate the project manager.  As a result, they are relying on eyewitness accounts to estimate how many workers were on-site at the time and how many might still be trapped in the rubble.

The structure that collapsed was a five-story residential building built by Bharat Developers and Realtors.  The company does not have a great reputation and other apartment buildings they built near the collapsed structure are cracking.  As a result of the cracks in the concrete, Goa’s chief minister, Manohar Parrikar, ordered a review of the project because he believes the design was faulty.  Many contractors cut corners and use inferior supplies when completing projects.  This leads to a high number of buildings collapsing each year. 

Sources: NY Times, ENR