Chennai: At least 10 labourers were killed and 25 sustained injuries, some of them grievously wounded, when an 11-storey apartment complex under construction collapsed at Porur in the heavy rain that lashed the city Saturday evening.
About 50 workers, including women, are feared to be buried under the debris. Multiple government and voluntary agencies are working through the night to rescue them.
Over 100 workers were at the construction site since Saturdays are the weekly wages disbursement day. About half of them were from Andhra Pradesh while the rest mostly came from the southern districts of Tamil Nadu and a few from Odisha. “There was loud thunder and then the building just collapsed like a cardboard box. I was lucky not to get hurt though I was on the third floor”, said a worker who had helped the police and fire service personnel to reach a few of the injured to Sri Ramachandra Medical College Hospital which provided the bulk of medical help, including ICU care for the critically injured workers.
Three of the dead were identified as Maruthupandi (25) from Madurai, Shankar (27) from Chennai and Santhakumari (27). The fourth body remained unclaimed and unidentified.
Rescue operations are on.
