At least 23 people were killed and more than 30 injured after the roof of a shelter at a crematorium in Ghaziabad’s Ukhlarsi village collapsed on them last week. Most of them had come to attend a funeral and had taken shelter under the concrete roof as it was raining. Sources said the shelter had been constructed recently by a private contractor engaged by the Muradnagar municipality and was used by those attending the crematorium as a waiting hall. At least 60 people had come to participate in the last rites of Jai Ram, a 55-year-old fruit seller from Muradnagar who had died the previous evening.
Pradeep, the elder son of Jai Ram, said he and the other family members were in the middle of the rituals a few metres ahead of the shelter when the roof came crashing down. “I had just lit my father’s pyre. My son, younger brother and I were supposed to walk to the shelter as it was raining. We had just touched the priest’s feet and were about to walk when the roof collapsed with a deafening sound. We turned back and there was a cloud of dust. The entire shelter had been reduced to rubble and at least 50 people were under the debris,” he added.
Pradeeep alleged there was a delay in police reaching the spot. “We didn’t get any help despite making several calls to the cops,” he said.
A few labourers working at a Rapid Metro site nearby were among the first to help. “They sent their excavator to the crematorium, but it could not enter through the main gate as there was a mountain of debris. A wall had to be broken so that the machine could enter and remove the rubble so that the injured could be rescued,” Pradeep said.
A team of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) arrived and started the rescue. More than one and a half hours had passed by then and scores of people were still buried under the rubble. District magistrate Ajay Shankar Pandey and police chief Kalanidhi Naithani also rushed to the spot.
SP (rural) Iraj Raja refuted allegations that the police had delayed reaching the spot. He claimed police had rushed to the crematorium within 10 minutes of getting the call. “We started the rescue around noon and called it off by 7pm. The injured were sent to various hospitals in the vicinity. The bodies were taken to MMG District Hospital. We have asked all health facilities to be equipped for emergencies,” the officer said.
The contractor who had built the shelter has come under police scanner for allegedly using substandard material. Raghu, a local resident, said though the crematorium had existed for eight years, the shelter had been constructed in October last year. “It’s been only a few months and the entire roof collapsed. This proves that the contractor had used poor quality materials. He should be arrested immediately,” he added.
UP chief minister Yogi Adityanath expressed his condolences to the families of the deceased and announced a financial assistance of Rs 200,000 to the dependents of each. He also instructed the divisional commissioner and ADG (Meerut zone) to submit a report on the roof collapse.
