Ghaziabad: Twenty-five people, most of them attending a funeral, were killed and at least 20 others injured when the roof of a shelter at a cremation ground in Uttar Pradesh's Muradnagar collapsed on Sunday, police said. A total of 38 people have been rescued, SP Abhishek Verma said.
Several people had taken shelter under the recently constructed structure at the cremation ground while it rained. The dead, all of them men, were mostly relatives or neighbours of Jai Ram, who was being cremated at that time.
Earlier, Inspector General Praveen Kumar said, "Seventeen people died when the roof of a shelter at a cremation ground in Ghaziabad."
Officials informed that search and rescue operations were affected due to rainfall in the area. Hours later, rescue workers were still going through the rubble to locate more victims, Ghaziabad (Rural) Superintendent of Police Iraj Raja said. Several people are admitted to hospitals.
Terming it as an unfortunate incident, Ghaziabad DM Ajay Shankar Pandey said, "Rescue operations are going on from past three hours. Rescue team, NDRF, police and medical teams have been deployed and 20 people have been rescued till now. We cannot tell the exact number of dead now."
"18 people have died so far while 38 people have been rescued after a shed collapsed in Muradnagar. We've started a probe & we'll take strict action against those found guilty," said Anita C Meshram, Divisional Commissioner, Meerut on Muradnagar roof collapse incident.
Locals claimed that the crematorium was constructed two months back and low-quality construction materials were used for it.
Union minister V K Singh, who is a Member of Parliament from Ghaziabad, and several senior police and administration officials visited the accident site.
Uttar Pradesh Health Minister Atul Garg, who is the local BJP MLA, met some of the injured at the government hospital here.
Singh ordered an unbiased investigation into the matter to the concerned officials.
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Leaders condole death
Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed grief over the death of 18 people in Ghaziabad roof collapse accident.
"Deeply anguished by the unfortunate incident in Uttar Pradesh's Muradnagar. The state government is engaged in relief and rescue work. I express my condolences to the relatives of those who lost their lives in this accident and wish for the speedy recovery of the injured," PM tweeted
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उत्तर प्रदेश के मुरादनगर में हुए दुर्भाग्यपूर्ण हादसे की खबर से अत्यंत दुख पहुंचा है। राज्य सरकार राहत और बचाव कार्य में तत्परता से जुटी है। इस दुर्घटना में जान गंवाने वालों के परिजनों के प्रति संवेदना प्रकट करता हूं, साथ ही घायलों के शीघ्र स्वस्थ होने की कामना करता हूं।
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) January 3, 2021 " class="align-text-top noRightClick twitterSection" data="
">उत्तर प्रदेश के मुरादनगर में हुए दुर्भाग्यपूर्ण हादसे की खबर से अत्यंत दुख पहुंचा है। राज्य सरकार राहत और बचाव कार्य में तत्परता से जुटी है। इस दुर्घटना में जान गंवाने वालों के परिजनों के प्रति संवेदना प्रकट करता हूं, साथ ही घायलों के शीघ्र स्वस्थ होने की कामना करता हूं।
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) January 3, 2021उत्तर प्रदेश के मुरादनगर में हुए दुर्भाग्यपूर्ण हादसे की खबर से अत्यंत दुख पहुंचा है। राज्य सरकार राहत और बचाव कार्य में तत्परता से जुटी है। इस दुर्घटना में जान गंवाने वालों के परिजनों के प्रति संवेदना प्रकट करता हूं, साथ ही घायलों के शीघ्र स्वस्थ होने की कामना करता हूं।
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) January 3, 2021
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has condoled the deaths and took cognizance of roof collapse incident in Muradnagar.
He said, "I've instructed district officials to conduct relief operations & submit a report of the incident. All possible help will be provided to those affected by the incident."
CM Yogi also announced Rs 2 lakh as financial relief for the families of each person killed.
With agency inputs
