HYDERABAD: Nine people died after an under-construction building collapsed in India, police said on Saturday.
However, a four-year-old boy and his mother were pulled alive from the seven-storey building – where labourers and their families lived in the basement.
“We can confirm that the death toll has gone up to nine. Rescue workers had managed to pull out a mother and her child alive, on Friday,” a police officer said.
Emergency workers were using mechanical diggers and other equipment to remove the broken slabs of concrete and the mangled steel at the site, the official added.
The government has promised stern action against the building owner for alleged violation of construction rules as well as civic officials for dereliction of duty, an Indian news agency reported.
Deadly accidents at building sites are relatively common in India and are often blamed on a lack of safety measures.In July, nine labourers fell to their death from an under-construction residential tower in Mumbai after a concrete slab collapsed.