Three-storey building collapses in Himachal

Being second Saturday, there was a holiday in the bank located on the top floor of the building and none of the seven employees working in the bank was present at the time of the incident, Chief Manager at UCO Banks Zonal Branch at Shimla, Ramesh Dadhwal, said.

A three-storey building in Himachal Pradesh's Shimla district collapsed like house of cards on Saturday afternoon, a senior state disaster management official said. The building collapsed in Chopal market around 12.30 pm. However, no loss of life has been reported as the building was vacated before it collapsed, he added.

A branch of UCO Bank, a dhaba, a bar and some other business establishments were located in the building. Being second Saturday, there was a holiday in the bank located on the top floor of the building and none of the seven employees working in the bank was present at the time of the incident, Chief Manager at UCO Bank's Zonal Branch at Shimla, Ramesh Dadhwal, said. ''As per the information provided to me by one of the employees posted there, some men sitting in the bar on the ground floor noticed sudden cracks in the window glasses,'' he told PTI, adding that realising the danger, they immediately ran out of the building and alerted other people sitting in the bar and dhaba.