Greater Noida buildings collapse — Builders knowingly used poor quality material: FIR

Police said four people have been arrested so far, including builders and property dealers Dinesh and Sanjeev Kumar, and a man who owned land in the area, Shanker Dwivedi.

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Two bodies were rescued from the building till 4am on Wednesday. (Express Photo by Gajendra Yadav)

According to the FIR, construction of the property at Khasra number 5, Shahberi, had been carried out by GK Homes. The FIR states that the builder “knowingly” used “bad quality material” for construction. “Knowing that the bad quality material may result in death, the said buildings were constructed, due to which it collapsed. Innocent people have been killed due to this,” the FIR said.

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It added that the builders had been “warned” by authorities at frequent intervals — but they did not cease construction. District Magistrate Brajesh Narayan Singh has ordered a magisterial inquiry to ascertain the reasons for the collapse, with a report sought in 15 days.

NDRF Commandant P K Srivastava, who led the rescue operations, said: “The buildings collapsed like a matchbox. Rescue efforts are taking time since we cannot use heavy machinery to clear the rubble for fear of harming trapped victims.”

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Mintoo Deka and his wife Sikha, who made a PCR call, said they heard a loud thud, which felt like an “earthquake”. “I held my wife and asked her to run as I thought our building was going to collapse. When I rushed out, it was dust all over.”