Two people have died and 12 Indian Army soldiers and many other civilians, are trapped in rubble after a multi-storey building collapsed today in Himachal Pradesh’s Solan, around 45 km from capital Shimla. 29 people, including 18 armymen and 11 civilians, have been rescued from the rubble till now, according to a top police official.

Those rescued from the rubble have been taken to local hospitals. A woman, who was the wife of the restaurant owner and an army personnel, who was pulled out from the rubble, died.

Two teams of National Disaster Response Force or NDRF reached the site of the accident to carry out rescue operations. A third team has also been dispatched to help with the operations. Rescue operations will continue through the night, according to the police.

Solan Building Collapse: The army personnel and their family members were on their way to Uttarakhand and had stopped at the restaurant for lunch

The building, which housed a restaurant, collapsed because of heavy rain in the area, reported news agency PTI.

Solan, Himachal Pradesh: The building collapsed because of heavy rain in the region

The army personnel and their family members were on their way to Uttarakhand and had stopped at the restaurant for lunch, a district official said, according to PTI.

Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Jairam Thakur, earlier tweeted in Hindi, saying rescue efforts were on to save those trapped inside the building.

#BuildingCollapsed at Solan two team of #NDRF deployed for rescue operation. pic.twitter.com/F8zVDZXEIW

– NDRF (@NDRFHQ) July 14, 2019

Massive mudslides hit the Chandigarh-Shimla national highway after heavy overnight rain yesterday, leading to traffic jams.

Solan Building Collapse: Two National Disaster Response Force teams are carrying out rescue operations. Another team has been dispatched for assistance

The highway stretch in Solan has also been affected from the mudslides, according to news agency IANS.

The entire stretch from Parwanoo to Solan has become a permanent landslide zone. The risk of driving is aggravated after dusk, said a commuter, according to IANS.

(With Inputs From Agencies)

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