Six persons, including four siblings, were killed in separate incidents of wall collapse in different parts of the district due to incessant rain over the past 24 hours, a senior officer said here on Thursday.
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has expressed grief over the loss of lives and has announced a financial assistance of Rs 4 lakh each to the kin of the victims.
District Magistrate Avanish Rai has confirmed the deaths. “Late on Wednesday night around 1 am, a portion of a Kutcha house in Chandrapura village in Civil Lines area collapsed after one of its walls caved in. Six members of a family were buried under the debris,” he said.
He said that before the villagers could remove the debris and take out the family members four siblings had already died.
“The injured, including grandmother of the victim’s Sharda Devi (75) and brother Rishabh (4) have been admitted to Dr Bhimrao Ambedkar Government Joint Hospital where a team of doctors is treating them,” he said.
Rai said that the victims have been identified as Shinku (10), Abhi (8), Sonu (7) and Arti (5). According to reports the parents of the victims have died of tuberculosis 2-3 years ago.
The second incident took place in Kripalpura village in Ekdil area where a couple died after the wall of a petrol pump collapsed.
Police sources said that Ramsnehi (65) and his wife Reshma (63) were sleeping alongside the boundary wall of Bhatia Petrol Pump. “Late on Wednesday night the boundary wall of the petrol pump collapsed and Ramsnehi and Reshma were buried under the debris. They were taken to the Dr Ambedkar hospital where doctors declared them dead,” the police said.
Rai and Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Jai Prakash Singh first visited the hospital and inquired about the health of Sharda and her grandson Rishabh and then visited Chandrapura and took stock of the situation.
Adityanath has directed to ensure proper treatment of all those injured in the incidents.