Two fatalities after building collapse in Chandigarh during renovation work

Two people lost their lives after a two-storey building collapsed in Chandigarh's Industrial Area Phase II on Saturday, July 4, prompting a large-scale rescue operation involving emergency services and disaster response teams.

Rescue personnel pulled six people from the rubble and rushed them to the Government Medical College and Hospital (GMCH) in Sector 32. According to hospital authorities, two of them did not survive, while three others remain hospitalized in stable condition.

Emergency response teams, including firefighters, police personnel and the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), reached the site shortly after the collapse was reported. Rescue efforts continued for more than five hours as crews searched through the debris for survivors.

The administration sealed off the surrounding area and deployed heavy earth-moving equipment to assist in clearing the wreckage. As a safety precaution, the adjacent building was also evacuated.

NDRF Deputy Commandant Deepak Singh said the agency's nearest rescue team from Panchkula responded immediately after receiving the alert. He confirmed that everyone believed to have been trapped under the debris had been rescued, while teams continued carrying out a thorough final search to ensure no one else remained beneath the collapsed structure.

Chandigarh Mayor Saurabh Joshi, who visited the site during the rescue operation, said the building was an old structure undergoing renovation when it suddenly gave way. Authorities have launched an investigation to determine what caused the collapse and whether any safety lapses contributed to the incident.

The accident comes after another building collapsed in Chandigarh's Sector 17 in January last year. In that case, the vacant structure had already been declared unsafe by authorities, and no injuries were reported when it collapsed.