Fourteen people have been killed and dozens more are trapped after a building collapsed in the Indian state of Goa.
Police Superintendent Shekhar Prabhudesai said authorities are still trying to determine how many people were on site when the five-storey structure, which was under construction, crumpled in Canacona, about 44 miles (70km) from the state capital of Panaji.
Rescuers are digging through the debris in the coastal village in search of survivors.
Witnesses said about 40 workers were on site.
“It was like an earthquake when the building fell,” said Ramesh Naik. “You could not see what exactly had happened because of the dust.”
Rescue workers using cranes and bulldozers, shovels and bare hands, struggled to shift concrete slabs and other debris to free the workers as hundreds of onlookers stood watching the rescue efforts.
Ambulances took at least three seriously injured workers to a hospital for treatment.
The cause of the collapse is not yet known.
“We will immediately arrest the builder, the contractor and municipal officials involved in sanctioning this construction site,” Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar said.
“I am personally monitoring the situation,” he added.
Building collapses are common in India, as massive demand for housing and lax regulations often encourage builders to cut corners by using substandard materials or add unauthorised extra floors.
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