At least seven people were killed and over 20 feared trapped in the debris of two buildings that collapsed in Vadodara (Baroda) in India’s state Gujarat early Wednesday morning.
The chief fire brigade officer of the Vadodara Municipal Corporation said the incident had taken place around 4:30am, reports NDTV.
Sources said the three-storeyed buildings were part of a huge housing complex constructed by the Vadodara Urban Development Authority or VUDA. There are 54 other similar buildings in the housing complex.
According to the chief fire brigade officer, about 13 to 14 families lived in one of the buildings.
Rescue operations are underway.
Meanwhile, Chief Minister Narendra Modi tweeted to say State Finance Minister Nitinbhai Patel was on his way to the site.
Vadodara Municipal Commissioner Manish Bardwaj, City Police Commissioner Satish Sharma, City Mayor Bharat Shah and other senior officials have arrived on the site.
The state government has announced a compensation of Rs200,000 for the families of the victims and set up an inquiry commission to probe the incident.
The Atladara locality developed recently, following a merger of Ataladara village with Vadodara city a few years ago.
