Surat building collapse death toll rises to 7; FIR against owners, 1 person held
Surat (PTI): The death toll in the collapse of a six-storey building in Gujarat's Surat city has gone up to seven with the recovery of six more bodies overnight, police said on Sunday.
A person who collected rent from the building occupants has been arrested and he and two owners of the structure have been booked on charges of culpable homicide not amounting to murder, they said.
The residential building, which was in a dilapidated condition and located in the Pal area, collapsed at around 2.45 pm on Saturday, as per the police.
A team of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), two teams of the State Disaster Response Force (SDRF), police personnel and fire brigade were involved in the rescue operation, the Surat police said in statement.
After around three hours of operation, they managed to rescue a 20-year-old woman, named Kashish Sharma, and rushed her to the hospital for treatment.
The body of a man was pulled out on Saturday night, an official earlier said.
Rescue teams later pulled out six more bodies from the debris, according to police.
Seven bodies were recovered from the debris in the operation that continued through the night, Sachin GIDC police station inspector Jignesh Chaudhari said.
The deceased, most of them textile workers from Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh, have been identified as Hiraman Kevat (40), Abhishek (35), Brijesh God (50), Shivpujan Kevat (26), Anmol Harijan (17), Parvesh Kevat (21), and Lalji Kevat (40), the statement said.
An FIR has been registered under Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita sections, including 105 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder), against the building owners Raj Kakadiya and his mother Ramilaben Kakadiya, and one Ashwin Vekariya, who collected rent from the occupants, inspector Chaudhari said.
Vekariya has been arrested and efforts are underway to nab the two other accused, he said.
Raj Kakadiya is currently in the US, as per the police.
As per the FIR, the dilapidated building was mostly vacant as the earlier occupants had left due to the danger it posed. A few families, however, continued to live there on rent.
On April 26 this year, the Surat Municipal Corporation issued a notice to the building's owner to get it vacated due to its dilapidated condition, the FIR stated.
The building's occupants repeatedly requested Vekariya to carry out repair works for damages caused to the structure but he told them the owners had refused it and they will get it done next year, it claimed.
The building was constructed in 2016-17, Surat Police Commissioner Anupam Singh Gehlot said on Saturday.
Around five flats were occupied, mostly by those who work in factories in the area, he said.
An NDRF official said the rescue operation concluded by around 9 am on Sunday.
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Trump vows to ‘finish job’, thanks Middle East allies; urges countries to show courage, buy US oil
Says US will ‘hit Iran extremely hard’ over next 2-3 weeks, threatens power plants
Washington: US President Donald Trump has said the United States is close to achieving its objectives in Iran, while thanking key allies in the Middle East for their support.
“We are gonna finish the job. We are getting very close,” Trump said, expressing appreciation to Israel, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the UAE and Bahrain. “They’ve been great and we will not let them fail in any way shape or form,” he added.
Trump claimed that US military operations against Iran have delivered major results over the past month. Referring to “Operation Epic Fury”, he said American forces had carried out “swift, decisive, overwhelming victories on the battlefield”.
He said Iran’s naval and air capabilities had been severely weakened and its ability to launch missiles and drones had been significantly reduced. “Their ability to launch missiles and drones is dramatically curtailed, and their weapons factories and rocket launchers are being blown to pieces – very few of them left,” he said.
The US president also repeated his criticism of the 2015 nuclear deal signed under former President Barack Obama, claiming it would have allowed Iran to develop nuclear weapons. Iran has consistently maintained that its nuclear programme is peaceful.
Trump said the US military campaign aims to weaken Iran’s ability to support proxy groups and prevent it from developing nuclear weapons. “Taken together, these actions will cripple Iran militarily,” he said, adding that key strategic objectives are “nearing completion”.
In a separate remark, Trump urged countries dependent on Gulf oil to take action and suggested they should rely more on American energy supplies. He called on them to show “delayed courage” and secure the Strait of Hormuz, which has been affected by the ongoing conflict.
“[They] should have done it before, should have done it with us, as we asked. Go to the strait and just take it, protect it,” he said, adding that the United States has sufficient oil resources.
The remarks come as tensions remain high in the region, with continued military exchanges and growing concerns over global energy supplies.
“We will continue until our objectives are fully achieved. Thanks to the progress, we’ve made, I can say we are on track to complete all of America’s objectives shortly, very shortly,” the US president said.
We are going to hit them extremely hard over the next two to three weeks. We are going to take them back to the stone ages where they belong,” he added.
He further added that “regime change was never our goal” but that “regime change has occurred because of their original leader’s death”.
He’s also warned Iran of strikes on power plants if no deal is agreed.
“If during this period of time, no deal is made, we have our eyes on key targets. If no deal is reached we are going to hit every one of their electric generating plants very hard, and probably simultaneously,” he says.
