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3 more rescued in Chennai building collapse, toll rises

by IBNS 01 Jul 2014, 11:55 am

Chennai, July 1 (IBNS): The death toll in Saturday's building collapse near Chennai reached 26 on Tuesday even as three more were rescued alive from the rubble.

After a woman was rescued alive a day ago, three more were found alive. 
 
While rescuers hoped to bring out more people alive, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa had said there were 72 construction workers in the building when it collapsed. 
 
The 11-storey building collapsed at around 6 pm Saturday at Moulivakkam near Chennai.

 An unknown number of people are still trapped inside.

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa on Sunday blamed the  builders for the mishap.

She said 'it appeared' that the builders violated norms.

"It appears that the building plans which was approved was not strictly adhered to by the builders. Nothing wrong with the plan that was submitted for approval. The builders knowingly committed many violations and did not adhere to the plan...It is too early to say what went wrong but it appears to be a structural fault," she told reporters.

Five people have been arrested in connection to the matter so far.

The incident occurred on a day when seven people died in a building collapse in New Delhi's Indralok area.