Hubballi, Feb 8 (Agencies): Five persons were killed and several others feared trapped under the debris of an old Railway parcel office building that collapsed here today, police said.
Rescue operations were on with emergency teams rushing to the spot, police said adding, some injured persons were being treated at a local hospital.
"We have recovered five dead bodies, four male and a female, from the debris of the collapsed old Railway parcel office building," Hubballi-Dharwad Police Commissioner Pandurang Rane told PTI here.
Asked whether any railway employee was among the dead, he said, "A Railway employee, GRB (Group B) employee and a civilian, could be among the dead ... we are investigating," Rane said.
Rescue operations are still on, he added.
The old building near the Railway station housed parcel office on the ground floor and Railway police station on the first.
Four of the deceased have been identified as Thimmareddy, Galeppa M, Kailasha Rajani and Saleema.
Some of the injured are Rehman whose condition is said to be serious, N G Shivalli, Basaiah, Vishwanath, P R Huralikoppa, Gururaj, Siddaiah Hiremath, R K Koni, Mohan B S, G V Rathod, B Muralidhar, Praveen Patil, Chennabasanagowda and S B Dikshita Drakshayini. Some of them are still trapped under the debris.
Railway police are said to have partially vacated the building.
A large number of people gathered at the spot, with police making efforts to vacate it fearing the building might collapse further.