A day after the roof of a crematorium collapsed in Uttar Pradesh’s Muradnagar, in which at least two dozen people have reportedly lost their lives thus far, the police on Monday said three people, including a junior engineer, had been arrested in connection with the case. “Three persons, including a junior engineer, have been arrested, case registered in connection with the roof collapse incident,” news agency ANI quoted the local police saying.
According to HT’s sister publication Livehindustan, around 100 people were on Sunday attending the last rites of a local resident of Dayanand Colony, when the roof collapsed, adding that hardly anyone got a chance to escape. The report further stated that initially, around 40 were trapped in the debris and, upon being rescued, were admitted to the Ghaziabad District Hospital. Besides the local police and administration, a team of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), too, was dispatched to the spot to carry out rescue operations.
A host of national leaders, including President Ram Nath Kovind and prime minister Narendra Modi, conveyed their condolences on the incident. Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath, meanwhile, instructed officials to provide financial assistance of Rs 2 lakh to the dependents of the deceased in this accident. He has also instructed the divisionl commissioner, Meerut and additional director general of police (ADGP) of the zone to submit a report regarding the incident.
