Survivors walk out of debris 17 hours after building   collapses in Chennai

 

 

CHENNAI: Nearly 17 hours after a 12-storey building under construction came crashing down in Chennai, a survivor walked out of the rubble at around 10am on Sunday morning.

Rescue workers cleared sections of the site in Moulivakkam, Porur, where several people are trapped.

The survivor, who was whisked away in an ambulance, said two more workers and two bodies were trapped in the same space that he was.

NDRF personnel said daylight brought hope as people would probably have fainted or slept at night. "They are likely to start calling out to us again," he said.

About half-an-hour had passed after the first survivor walked out of the debris when cheers broke out as a woman trapped walked out unaided at around 10.45am.

Sunita from Andhra Pradesh had spent more than 17 hours beneath the piles of concrete and iron.

Rescue workers cleared a space for her and she refused a stretcher though she was whisked away to hospital for first aid.

About half an hour before another man had walked out, bringing news of two others trapped in the same spot he was.

This takes the total number of people rescued since operations began on Saturday evening to around 18.

More people are trapped five metres beneath the debris but the rescue operation becomes more delicate now as heavy machinery cannot be deployed for fear of injuring survivors.

Sniffer dogs were at the spot trying to locate more survivors in the debris.