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Chandigarh, Jul 4 (PTI): Two people died after a two-storey building collapsed in the Industrial Area Phase-2 here on Saturday, officials said.

Four people were pulled out from the debris and taken to the Government Medical College and Hospital (GMCH) in Sector 32. Later two more people were brought out and rushed to the same hospital, they said.

“Two people have died in the building collapse incident,” Ravneet Kaur, Director-Principal at GMCH-32, told PTI over phone.

Vishal Guglani, Medical Superintendent, GMCH-32, said three people were undergoing treatment at the hospital and their condition was stable.

Teams of firefighters, police and the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) rushed to the spot after receiving the news of the building collapse and carried out a rescue operation that continued for more than five hours.

The administration had pressed heavy earth-moving machines into service after cordoning off the area. It also vacated the adjoining building as a precautionary measure.

NDRF Deputy Commandant Deepak Singh told PTI Videos, "After receiving information that a building had collapsed, our nearest team from Panchkula reached the site without delay. All those trapped under the debris have been rescued. We are now conducting an extensive final search to ensure that no other victims remain trapped. We will share further updates once the operation is complete." Chandigarh Mayor Saurabh Joshi, who visited the site to assess the situation, told reporters that it was an old building which was being renovated when it suddenly collapsed.

Officials said a probe will be conducted to ascertain the circumstances leading to the building collapse.

Last year, a vacant building collapsed in Sector-17, though no one was hurt in the incident. The structure had been declared unsafe by the authorities before it came down crashing. PTI SUN ARI ARI

(This story is published as part of the auto-generated syndicate wire feed. No editing has been done in the headline or the body by ABP Live.)