Methane, Low Oxygen Hamper Pune Building Collapse Rescue

Elevated methane levels and falling oxygen concentration are posing fresh challenges to rescue teams searching for people trapped under the debris of a collapsed building at Moshi in Pune, even as personnel from multiple agencies continued round-the-clock operations for the second consecutive day, a fire official said on Thursday.

NDRF teams, along with sniffer dogs, reached the collapse site in the Moshi area of Pimpri Chinchwad this morning and continued search and rescue operations to extricate people trapped beneath the debris.

Personnel from the Army, Fire Brigade, police and the local administration are also engaged in the operation.

Speaking to ANI, Pimpri-Chinchwad Fire Department Sub Fire Officer Dilip Gaikwad said rescue teams had safely evacuated all survivors who responded to rescuers, while efforts were continuing to locate those who remained unresponsive beneath the debris.

"The problem right now is the debris that has come there due to sliding. That's the biggest issue. Because of that, the building has lifted a bit from the back side. So, we have made a triangular-like duct there by cutting the slab. From there, the operation is ongoing," Gaikwad said.

How many people have been rescued so far from the building collapsed in Pune?

He said nine people had been rescued alive so far, while three to five others reportedly managed to come out on their own before rescue teams reached the site.

Gaikwad said the unstable structure prevented rescue teams from approaching from one side, forcing them to create an access point by cutting through the lifted portion of the building.

"The building has collapsed. We tried from the side where the building was lifted because rescue operations from the opposite side were risky for the search teams," he said.

“Now we're using JCBs to remove the debris, which is allowing us to go deeper inside than we could yesterday. We will search the entire building after removing the debris. How long it will take, we can't say, but our operation has been ongoing since yesterday," he added.

Highlighting the difficult conditions inside the collapsed structure, Gaikwad said, "Methane levels are a bit high there, and oxygen levels are dropping. But all the live victims who were inside were rescued safely. For those who aren't responding, we haven't found anything yet."

The rescue operation is being jointly carried out by the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), the Army, the Fire Brigade, police and the local administration.

(With inputs from ANI)