Two people were killed and 26 others injured after a hospital building collapsed in Bhopal on Friday evening.
The mishap occurred in the female ward of the two storied building of Kasturba Hospital run by Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL).
The incident took place at around 5 pm following which rescue operation team rushed to the spot and rescued over twenty three people of which fifteen were patients.
The deceased were identified as Arun Sisodia and Mohammad Jameel whose bodies were removed from the site while the rescue team was cleaning the debris.
Confirming the death of two in the mishap, Collector Nikunj Shrivastava said, "The bodies of two persons identified as Jameel and Arun were found when the rescue team started removing debris of the collapsed structure," Press Trust of India reported.
The hospital building that collapsed was reported to be 50-years-old. The incident occurred while the some repairing work was in progress at the ground floor of the hospital.
Mohd Nasim, an eyewitness of the mishap, told Hindustan Times, "The ground floor is empty and repairing work is going on. On the first floor, I was standing outside the ward when floor caved in and then the entire ward almost came crashing down."
"There was a wall of dust from the debris," he added.
After the incident, SR Prasad, executive director of BHEL, said that the injured were being treated in other wing of the hospital.
Meanwhile, Bhopal Mayor Krishna Gaur has assured that a probe will be ordered in connection with the mishap. "Our primary concern is evacuation of patients and rescue of those trapped under the debris," she told CNN-IBN.
A compensation of ₹2 lakh each to the family of the deceased and ₹50,000 each to the family of injured has been announced by Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan.
The rescue operation carried out by Bhopal Municipal Corporation, district police, the CISF and BHEL personnel has reportedly ended.
