Indore hotel collapse: Scindia alleges lapses in rescue operation

Senior Congress leader Jyotiraditya Scindia has alleged serious lapses in the rescue operation carried out by the district administration after a three-storey hotel collapsed here last week.

Ten persons, including two women, were killed when the 60-year-old hotel, which was in a dilapidated condition, collapsed in a congested commercial area, near a bus stand, on the night of March 31.

The police had rescued 12 persons, who were trapped under the debris, and rushed them to the government-run Maharaja Yashwantrao (MY) hospital. Ten of the 12 persons were declared dead by the doctors at the hospitral, while the remaining two were undergoing treatment, an official had earlier said.

 

"The officials were more interested in removing the debris than saving the lives of the people who were trapped. I was told that barely a few hours after the incident, bulldozers and earth-moving machines were used to clear the debris," Scindia alleged.

"Had they been more cautious, perhaps the lives of a few people, who were trapped under the debris, could have been saved," he told reporters here last night after meeting the two injured persons at the hospital.

The Guna MP said he did not want to do politics over the issue, but some people had brought the alleged serious lapses in the rescue operation to his notice.

"In such emergency cases, the rescue operations should be conducted with more sensitivity and care. But I was told that it was not done and that standard practices were not followed," the former Union minister said.

In order to trace those, who were still alive after the hotel collapsed, advance machines should have been pressed into service, he added.

The use of heavy machinery should have been avoided by deploying those personnel who were trained to deal with such emergency situations, Scindia said.

He demanded a high-level probe into the alleged lapses and strict action against those found guilty.

The Congress leader also demanded a security audit of all the old buildings in the city.

The police had yesterday arrested the hotel owner, Shankar Paryani (55).

The police, the district administration and the Indore Municipal Corporation (IMC) are separately looking into the incident, the district officials said.