Roof collapse in 21-floor tower of Ggm society, rescue ops on

Gurugram: Scenes of panic, confusion and anger were witnessed outside the posh Chintels Paradiso residential condominium society in Sector-109 here along the Dwarka Expressway after the roof of a 21-story tower there collapsed and caved into seven floors below it.

The incident of a roof collapsing reportedly occurred at around 6:15 pm in the seventh floor of Tower D apartment of the society. Following the sudden collapse, seven floors below it also caved in. Immediately after the collapse was reported, rescue efforts began, with officials from the NDRF, Gurugram Fire Department, and Gurugram Police securing the area.

But even as some residents of the society claimed that as many as two labourers had died and many others were feared trapped, officials responding to the emergency are yet to confirm this. The rescue operations continued till later on Thursday night and were still underway when this report was filed.

Around 10 to 12 JCB earth-moving machines were seen being rushed into the society even as officials stopped anyone who was not a resident from entering the premises, including members of the press.

Significantly, Chintels Paradiso was built and completed in 2018. Its possession to homebuyers came as late as 2019. Most homebuyers who came rushing out said that this was "a cold-blooded murder by the builder", alleging they had used substandard and poor material for the construction of the apartments, each of which costs more than Rs 1 crore.

Angry residents also claimed that despite complaints being lodged with the Department of Town and Country Planning (DTCP) of poor construction, there was no action taken against the builder. Neither the police nor the DTCP have said anything about launching an investigation into the builder — even after the collapse was reported.

Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar took note of the mishap and tweeted around 9 pm, "Administrative officials, along with SDRF and NDRF teams are busy in the rescue & relief work after the unfortunate collapse of the apartment roof at the Paradiso Housing Complex in Gurugram. I am personally monitoring the situation and I pray for everyone's safety."

"The mishap occurred at around 6:15 to 6:30 pm when the roof of the seventh floor of tower D apartment suddenly collapsed. Due to collapse, there are floors that have been damaged. One person has died on the spot. There is also a person whose leg has been stuck inside the debris and it can only be taken out after it is amputated," said Amit Singhania, one resident. Another resident Girdhari Lal also claimed there were casualties.