Lucknow, Sep 29 (IANS) Defence Minister Rajnath Singh has expressed grief over the loss of lives in the collapse of a row of makeshift houses at a construction site in Lucknow on Friday.

The Union Minister has conveyed his condolences to those who have lost their dear ones in the accident.

“I pray to God to give strength to the families to bear the loss and pray for the swift recovery of those injured in the incident,” he wrote on X.

A 25-year-old man and his two-month-old daughter were killed after a row of makeshift houses collapsed in the Vrindavan Yojna area here in the early hours of Friday.

The deceased have been identified as Muqadum Ali and his daughter Ayesha.

Locals heard a loud thud, a little after midnight and came out of their homes to find that five makeshift houses had collapsed.

Additional deputy commissioner of police, East Zone, Syed Abbas Ali said that preliminary information suggests that land subsidence occurred possibly due to construction of a multi-level parking and the makeshift houses.

The labourers from Pratapgarh and Sitapur who were working on a nearby construction project were residing in these makeshift houses.