By IANS,
Srinagar : A five-storeyed building, about a 100 years old, collapsed here Friday afternoon, trapping many people in the debris. However, police and fire service personnel managed to rescue all those inside.
“All the persons trapped in the collapsed building in Lal Chowk have been safely rescued,” a senior police officer told IANS.
The Coronation Building, housing a hotel, a bank branch and some shops, in downtown Lal Chowk was a dilapidated state.
The building is of historical significance as India’s first prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru and former chief minister Sheikh Mohammed Abdullah announced Kashmir’s accession to India in their famous 1947 public speeches in Lal Chowk near this edifice.
The local municipality had issued notices to the owners to re-build the building, but because of a family dispute pending in the court nothing was done.