At least 12 Indian troops and a civilian were killed when a four-storey building collapsed in Himachal Pradesh' Solan district, officials said on Monday. Twenty-eight people were injured after the building, which housed a restaurant, gave in on the Nahan-Kumarhatti Road on Sunday evening following heavy rains, they said.
The bodies of 12 army personnel and a civilian were pulled out of the debris, Solan Sub Divisional Magistrate Rohit Rathore said adding one person was still feared trapped under the debris. The actual number of those trapped inside would be clear only after the rescue operation ends by this evening. Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur, who visited the spot on Monday morning, said initial investigation has found that the structure was not built up to specifications. "A magisterial inquiry has already been ordered. Strict legal action will be taken against erring persons after getting the report," he said adding a first information report (FIR) has been registered against the owner of the building.
An injured soldier told reporters from the hospital that when the building collapsed, there were 35 army personnel inside it, of whom 30 were Junior Commissioned Officers (JCOs).