Couple killed, 4 injured in building collapse

Pune: A couple working at a construction site was killed, while four other labourers sustained injuries after a brick structure collapsed on them in the Pimpri Chinchwad city of Maharashtra’s Pune district, police said on Saturday, March 14.

The incident occurred around 4.30 pm on Friday on an open plot in the Talawade area, where a brick structure was being constructed in a pit to install underground tanks, an official said.

He said that the plot owner had awarded the contract to a company to set up pits for underground tanks, and the contractor had brought in labourers for the work.

While workers were building a brick structure inside the pit, it suddenly collapsed on them due to the movement of a JCB that pushed it, trapping labourers underneath.

The victims, Sachin Shankar Rathod (30) and his wife Komal (25), residents of Chakan, died on the spot. Another labourer, Manohar Bhiku Chavan (38) and three others suffered injuries and were admitted to a hospital for treatment, he said.

A case of culpable homicide not amounting to murder has been registered against the contractor, said senior inspector Vikram Bansode of Dehu Road police station.