Delhi building collapse: Bihar govt to give Rs1 lakh to victims' families

Bihar government has decided to give Rs1 lakh compensation to families of each of the migrant labourers from the state who were killed in building collapse on Monday night.

"Bihar government will give an amount of Rs1 lakh as compensation to those migrant labourers from Bihar who were killed on Monday night due to the building collapse in Laxmi Nagar area. It includes nearly 16 families," Alok Chaturvedi, resident commissioner, Bihar government said.

"This will be given under the Inter-State Migrant Workmen (Regulation of Employment and Conditions of Services) Act 1979," he said.

The deceased 16 labourers have been identified as residents of Katihar and Saharsa districts of Bihar.

Delhi government yesterday announced an ex-gratia of Rs2 lakh each to the families of those killed and Rs1 lakh to the injured in the building collapse which has claimed 67 lives.

Meanwhile, rescuers continued to look for trapped survivors in the debris for the third day today. Anxious people were running from hospital to another looking for their missing relatives.

"I have finally traced my sister and one of her daughters. Her other daughter is missing. I spent the whole day looking for her. I even went to the mortuary. We are waiting for the debris to be completely removed," said a relative of a victim admitted at the Lal Bahadur Shastri hospital.

Another victim said his daughter and grandson are missing. "I was told by my neighbours that both are dead but no one has found their bodies. So how do I believe that they are dead," said the tearful man.