Fifteen Feared Trapped After Slab Collapse At Commercial Complex Near Gandhinagar

At least fifteen labourers are feared trapped beneath the rubble of an under-construction commercial complex after a third-floor slab gave way in the Kudasan area near Gandhinagar on Wednesday evening. Emergency rescue operations involving local fire brigade personnel and residents continued late into the night as teams worked to cut through heavy concrete debris at the Bosky the Empire building site.

Eight injured workers were successfully pulled from the wreckage and transferred to Gandhinagar Civil Hospital for urgent medical treatment following the incident, which occurred at approximately 9.15 pm. Local residents formed the initial rescue response team, extracting four workers before professional fire and emergency squads arrived to rescue an additional four labourers from the collapsed structure.

Gandhinagar chief fire officer Rajesh Patel confirmed the scale of the ongoing search operation as rescue personnel deployed heavy equipment to cut through the fallen concrete slabs. The commercial complex had reached the third floor when the structural failure occurred while labourers were actively working on the upper level.

We fear that some fifteen labourers are still buried under the debris, Patel stated regarding the ongoing operation. Emergency crews maintained their positions late into the night, balancing the delicate work of stabilising remaining structural hazards while attempting to locate survivors trapped in the rubble.

Senior officials at Gandhinagar Civil Hospital reported that eight patients arrived via EMRI ambulances from the collapse site shortly after 10 pm, while two to three additional injured individuals arrived in private vehicles. Medical staff confirmed that the admitted workers primarily sustained head and bodily impact injuries.

None are currently serious, and all are being provided treatment for their injuries, a senior civil hospital official said. We have received information that there could be some more persons at the site. More details will be ascertained later. Stabilising the patients is the priority.

Deputy chief minister Harsh Sanghavi and the Gandhinagar municipal commissioner rushed directly to the disaster site upon receiving news of the structural collapse to oversee coordination between emergency services and district authorities. Their presence underscored the urgency of the rescue effort as municipal machinery and lighting units were deployed to assist the overnight search.

The incident prompted swift administrative attention across the wider metropolitan region regarding construction safety enforcement. Concurrently, municipal authorities in nearby Ahmedabad initiated a separate preventive structural safety inspection drive targeting residential paying guest facilities and student hostels.

Prompted by structural incidents in urban student housing sectors, the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation launched a special inspection drive on Wednesday covering fifty-five buildings across five municipal zones. Inspection teams evaluated hostels and student dormitories to identify any structures operating in a prima facie dangerous condition.

None of the fifty-five properties inspected during the initial sweep were found to be in a visibly hazardous state, though municipal teams issued immediate compliance guidelines. Facility operators received strict instructions to maintain regular structural upkeep and adhere strictly to established municipal safety codes.

Search and rescue personnel remain deployed at the Kudasan site as emergency teams continue clearing the remaining concrete debris from the collapsed third-floor slab. Authorities have indicated that further details regarding the exact number of unaccounted workers and the causative factors behind the structural failure will be formally ascertained once the rescue operation concludes.