A 23-year-old labourer was killed and 26 others were injured when a slab of an under-construction building on the Chhattisgarh High Court premises collapsed on Tuesday, police said.
Police suspect that some labourers were trapped under the rubble as around 100 of them were working at the time of the accident.
“The incident occurred at the upcoming Judicial Officers Training Institute building on the Chhattisgarh High Court premises, around 10 km away from Raipur,” said Bilaspur Superintendent of Police Abhishek Pathak.
Around 100 labourers were working at the site when a portion of the slab, which was being laid, caved in at around 4 p.m., Mr. Pathak said.
Rescuers initially found 25 labourers injured and rushed them to a local hospital.
Later, two other labourers who were trapped under the debris were evacuated and admitted to Apollo Hospital where one of them died of injuries, the SP said. The deceased has been identified as Toman Porte (23), a native of Akaltara town in neighbouring Janjgir-Champa district.
“There is a chance that some people might have been trapped under the rubble. Search and rescue operations are on,” the SP said.
The cause behind the accident is yet to be ascertained, he added.