The death toll in the collapse of a four-storey lodge building in Kotma town of Anuppur district of Madhya Pradesh on Saturday evening has increased to two. A police officer gave this information on Sunday. He said that five other people have been injured in this accident, out of which the condition of two is critical and they have been sent to Shahdol for better treatment. The official said that there is a possibility of some people still being buried under the debris, hence relief and rescue work is going on.

Anuppur District Magistrate Harshal Pancholi said that in the unfortunate incident of building collapse in Kotma, five people were pulled out from the debris in the night, out of which two have died. Officials said that this building named ‘Agarwal Lodge’ located near Kotma bus stand collapsed at around 5.30 pm on Saturday evening. According to eyewitnesses, when the building collapsed, there was a loud bang-like sound and a cloud of dust spread all around.

He said that at the time of the incident, the bus stand area was crowded due to movement of passengers and construction work was also going on at the nearby plot. Anuppur Superintendent of Police (SP) Moti Ur Rehman said on Sunday morning that the deceased have been identified as Hanuman Deen Yadav (55) and Ramkripal Yadav (50).

He said that five more people were pulled out from the debris and are injured. The condition of two of them is critical and they have been referred to Shahdol. He said rescue teams including the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) carried out the operation throughout the night and it is still going on so that if anyone else is trapped under the debris, they can be rescued.

The Superintendent of Police said that there is a possibility of an accident due to the ongoing construction work near this 10 year old building. Madhya Pradesh Forest Minister and Anuppur district in-charge minister Dilip Ahirwar and Cottage and Village Industries Minister Dilip Jaiswal reached the spot late on Saturday night and supervised the relief and rescue operations along with senior officials.

Minister Dilip Ahirwar said while talking to journalists that every aspect to this accident will be investigated and action will be taken against the culprits. He said that the priority of the government is to rescue the people trapped under the debris and provide them proper treatment. He said that the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) team has also left for the spot and officials including Minister in-charge Dilip Ahirwar have been instructed to reach the spot. Three people have been taken out safely.