Dharwad: Four more persons were reportedly rescued from the debris of the building that collapsed in Dharwad earlier this week. The four persons were rescued on Friday, March 22.
The rescued have been identified as Sangamesh Ramanagouda (24), hailing from Belagavi, Dileep Kokare (40), his wife Sangeetha Kokare (35) and Honamma (45), a labourer from Bellary.
As on Saturday morning, the death toll rose to 14, after two more bodies were pulled out of the rubble. The deceased, both from Dharwad, have been identified as Subbanna Neeralakatti (68) and Anup Kudtarkar, son of the cyber cafe’s owner.
The police are unsure as to how many more people are still trapped under the debris. Stating that they have rescued around 60 people so far, the police commissioner assured that they are continuing their efforts to rescue the rest.
In the meanwhile, the police have booked the architect of the building, Vivek Pawar and the owners, Ravi Basavaraj Sabarad, Basavaraj D Nigadi, Gangappa S Shintri and Mahabaleshwar Puradagudi, under IPC sections 304 for culpable homicide not amounting to murder, 337 for causing hurt by act endangering life or personal safety of others and 338 for causing grievous hurt by the act endangering life. The architect and the owners had surrendered themselves to the police late on Thursday night. They have also applied for anticipatory bail, according to police.
Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy has also warned of strict action if it is found that the incident was a result of the negligence by any official.
