Tragic Collapse: Gujarat Building Falls Amid Torrential Rain, Claims Three Lives

An elderly woman and her two granddaughters died after a three-storey building collapsed in Gujarat's Devbhumi Dwarka district due to heavy rainfall. A six-hour rescue operation led to the recovery of their bodies, while five individuals were rescued. Authorities have issued advisories and closed schools in affected areas.

An elderly woman and her two granddaughters were killed after a dilapidated three-storey building collapsed in Jam Khambhalia town in Gujarat's Devbhumi Dwarka district amid heavy rainfall in the state's Saurashtra region, police said on Wednesday.

The incident occurred on Tuesday evening in Gagwani Fali locality of the town. Bodies of the three victims were brought out after a nearly six-hour-long rescue operation that continued till midnight, officials noted. Five persons were rescued, they added.

Teams of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), police, and fire department removed debris that had fallen on the victims due to the building collapse, the police stated. The victims were identified as Kesharben Kanjaria (65), Pritiben Kanjaria (15), and Payalben Kanjaria (18). Five others trapped in the debris were rescued by locals, and the bodies of the deceased were sent to a government hospital for post-mortem examination.

Heavy rainfall continued to inundate low-lying areas in Saurashtra and south Gujarat districts, causing dams to overflow and rivers to swell beyond their danger marks, officials reported. Authorities have issued advisories warning people to avoid unnecessary travel and crossings of overflowing causeways. The Navsari collector ordered local schools to remain closed on Wednesday due to the severe weather conditions.

(With inputs from agencies.)