Dharwad: Five days after the building collapse in Dharwad, the death toll stands at 19. The NDRF teams had been roped in for rescue operations.

The NDRF department confirmed that 54 people had been rescued, including those who had been trapped for more than two days.

The official also stated that rescue and relief operations concluded at 3 pm on March 25.

On March 19, an under-construction building collapsed in the afternoon.

State fire and emergency services began rescue operations initially. But upon the orders of deputy commissioner, the NDRF teams were flown in.

Due to the magnitude of the situation, two more teams from Ghaziabad were called in.

Chief minister Kumaraswamy had visited the spot along with revenue minister RV Deshpande.

Following the incident, seven officials from Hubli-Dharwad Municipal Corporation have been suspended

This also includes town planning officer Mukund Joshi, town planning cell assistant director Ashok Gadag, zonal officer Prabhakar Doddmani, executive Engineer V Sridhar, assistant executive engineer Chandrappa, town planning cell deputy director BV Hiremath and assistant commissioner (zone-3) Santosh Anishettar.

Five people have been named in the FIR registered in the case and have been arrested, including Gangappa Shintri, the father-in-law of former Dharwad MLA from Congress Vinay Kulkarni.