4 dead, 12 injured as cold storage facility collapses in Prayagraj

PRAYAGRAJ: At least four persons were killed and 12 others, including a minor, were injured when a portion of a cold storage facility collapsed in Prayagraj's Phaphamau on Monday afternoon.Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath expressed grief over the incident and have announced financial assistance to the injured and ex-gratia for the kin of the deceased. Both the PM and the CM announced a compensation of Rs 2 lakh to the family of each deceased. They also announced financial assistance of Rs 50,000 to each injured.A three-member committee headed by ADM (finance) will probe the incident and submit its report within two days.

DM Manish Kumar Verma told TOI that 16 persons, including a minor boy, got trapped under the debris when a portion of the cold storage collapsed around 1.30pm.Families claim cold storage lacked safety arrangementsThe injured have been admitted to Beli and SRN hospitals and govt will give them financial assistance of Rs 50,000 each, the DM said. Most of the injured were daily wagers working at the site.Teams of NDRF, SDRF and fire department carried out the rescue work and took out the trapped persons.

At least five earthmovers were deployed in the rescue work.Besides Prayagraj DM, Police commissioner Jogender Kumar, DIG (law & order) Ajay Pal Sharma, DCP (Ganga Nagar) Kuldeep Singh also reached the spot.Rescue work was on till the filing of this report.Locals claimed the cold storage was more than 25 years old and its portion collapsed with a huge sound. According to officials, the cold storage belongs to former Samajwadi Party MLA Ansar Ahmed and was built on a 1,500 square metres area and has a capacity to store around 1.25 lakh sacks.

Police are probing when the license of the cold storage was issued and whether it was renewed.Unconfirmed reports said the incident was triggered by ammonia leakage at the cold storage facility but there was no official confirmation. As a precautionary step, police diverted the traffic coming from Lucknow and Pratapgarh through Gohri turn and Shantipuram towards Prayagraj.The families of the victims claimed that cold storage lacked safety arrangements for the workers.

Some claimed overloading as the cause behind the incident.In a post on X, The PM said, "Deeply saddened by the mishap due to the collapse of a building in Prayagraj, Uttar Pradesh. My thoughts are with the affected people and their families in this difficult hour. May those injured recover at the earliest.""The loss of life resulting from the accident at the cold storage facility in the Prayagraj district is deeply tragic and heart-wrenching. My heartfelt condolences go out to the bereaved families," the CM wrote on X.