New Delhi (Sputnik) — Fire Department officials in Dharwad, a city in the southern Indian state of Karnataka, have confirmed the rescue of a man from the debris of a building that was under construction that collapsed on the evening of March 19. The chief of the Karnataka State Fire and Emergency Services Department, M.N. Reddi, tweeted a video of the rescue operation to the world and announced that the man had been returned to safety.
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#dharwadbuildingcollapse
— M.N.Reddi, IPS (@DGP_FIRE) March 22, 2019
After 62 hours of being trapped in the basement of the collapsed multi storied building, Dilip being rescued alive by our Fire Force just now!!! pic.twitter.com/VildP7lPYE
Initially, there was some confusion about the name of the person who was rescued, but the chief of the Karnataka State Fire and Emergency Services Department later identified him as Somu.
Correction.The name of the survivor is Somu. https://t.co/oqdoAiiN0c
— M.N.Reddi, IPS (@DGP_FIRE) March 22, 2019
Great. Awesome willpower.
— Chowkidar Shankar AT (@ShankargoudaAT) March 22, 2019
Hats off to the rescuers and the Grit of the man trapped inside for 62 hours. 👍🏻
— 🌾Venky Reddy🌱 (@venkyreddy) March 22, 2019
Hatsoff to force fire force
— sha_sha_nk (@shashankrga) March 22, 2019
The English Daily The Hindu later informed that the rescued man was well enough to walk to the ambulance on his own.
Much to the surprise of the rescue team, Sangamesh Ramanagoudar walked to the ambulance on his own #DharwadBuildingCollapse https://t.co/qR0U0ijEPT
— The Hindu (@the_hindu) March 22, 2019
The video shows Somu emerging from beneath layers of concrete and building material, and shying away from sunlight.
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The nearly minute-long video tweeted by the state fire department's head shows personnel from the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) helping the man come out of the rubble and being escorted to the ambulance amid cheers from the public.
Meanwhile, the death toll from the building collapse has been pegged at 14 so far. As many as 56 people have been rescued from the collapsed building.
Reports said that a First Information Report (FIR) has been registered by the state police against the owners and the engineer of the building.
Dharwad building collapse: FIR registered against building owners, Ravi Basavaraj Sabarad, Basavaraj D Nigadi, Gangappa S Shintri, Mahabaleshwar Puradagudi & engineer Vivek Pawar. All 4 owners have surrendered before the police & the engineer has been taken into police custody pic.twitter.com/6qEY2KOUG0
— ANI (@ANI) March 22, 2019
