Mysuru: A 45-year-old man died and four others of his family escaped with minor injuries after the ceiling of over a century-old dilapidated house collapsed at Soppinakeri Third Cross at Mandi Mohalla around 6 am on Tuesday.
The deceased has been identified as Nagesh, a tailor. His mother Neelambika, wife Bharathi, son Jeevan and brother-in-law Raju, who suffered injuries, are being treated at K.R. Hospital.
The landlord, Narayanachar, had given two houses on rent and stayed in another house in the same compound. Narayanachar claimed that he had asked both his tenants to vacate the house as it was not safe. But they had ignored it due to their financial constraints as the rent was nominal, he said. The other tenant, Sundramma, had gone to the bathroom outside the house on Tuesday morning when she noticed that the building was about to collapse. She immediately pulled out her son and alerted Nagesh’s family. But by the time Nagesh sent his mother, wife, son and brother-in-law out of the house, the wall collapsed on Nagesh, who died on the spot.
“Nagesh had woken up at 5am and had gone for walk. He returned home and slept again. I am a domestic help at a house nearby and I had gone to work early in the morning. My sister-in-law too works as a domestic help. Nagesh was the main breadwinner of our family,” said Uma, Nagesh’s sister. Mandi police who arrived at the spot pulled Nagesh’s body out.“It was already an old house and recent heavy rains had worsened its condition. We have ordered a survey of such old houses in Mysuru. Compensation of Rs 10,000 has been given to Nagesh’s family,” Mayor Ravi Kumar, who visited the spot along with other elected representatives, said.
