As many as eight people were dead and dozens feel trapped after a roof of a potato cold storage collapsed in the Chandausi area of Sambhal in UP. The tragedy happened on Thursday at around 11:30 am.

The State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) and National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) teams, along with 15-20 ambulances reached the spot and carried out the search and rescue operations which continued for over 21 hours. The team has so far rescued 11 people.

Sambhal DM Manish Bansal said 11 people have been rescued and some more people are missing. There is a basement in the building, and we are trying to reach there, he said. The officials are also using sniffer dogs to search for the people trapped in the debris, he added.

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Chief Medical Officer Tarannum Raza said over half a dozen doctors were at the spot to help the injured. Oxygen cylinders have also been arranged. Around six excavators have been pressed into service to clear the debris, officials said.

Deputy Inspector General of Police Shalabh Mathur told the media that rescuers were taking precautions as ammonia gas cylinders were kept in cold storage.

Superintendent of Police (SP) Sambhal, Chakresh Mishra said that FIR has been registered against the owner and two others under section 304 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). He said the police are looking for the main accused who is missing. As per the officials, the owners were identified as Ankur Agarwal and Rohit Agarwal.

Earlier, it was reported that the godown was already in a dilapidated condition.

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath announced an ex-gratia amount of Rs 2 lakh each for the deceased and formed a committee to probe the reasons behind it.

They said that the roof was built only three months ago without the necessary permission from the administration and potatoes more than the prescribed capacity of the cold storage were stored there.

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