Building collapse kills five

Bangalore: In a tragic incident, five people including a two-year-old girl, were killed, when a dilapidated building collapsed in the city on Tuesday morning. Two others were seriously injured and nine houses damaged, at Jayakrishnappa Compo­und, Adugodi.

Police said the 60-year-old building had been weakened by the heavy rains on Saturday and Monday. Police booked Jayakrishna Yadav (63), who owns the cluster of houses, under Section 304 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder) of the IPC.

The deceased are Savita, 2, Padma, 45, Manjula, 53, Bolha Singh, 22, and his brother Malkan Singh, 18. Rajveer Singh and Ratnamma were injured. Victims’ families had moved to the city for work and have been living in the colony for several years.

Eyewitnesses said the incident occurred around 8.45 am. “The building collapsed on two adjacent houses. There was chaos everywhere and we rushed to help the victims. A few managed to escape, but others were stuck under the debris,” said Muniyappa, who lives in the colony.

The police and the fire brigade arrived a few minutes later and took over the rescue operation. They pulled out the bodies of Savita, Bolha Singh and Malkan Singh. Although it was first thought that only one woman was under the debris, rescue workers also found the bodies of Padma and Manjula.

Mayor B.S. Satyanarayana and BBMP Commissioner M.. Lakshminarayan visited the spot. “The houses have been built with mud and are in bad condition. I have their demolition.

I will ask the police to file a criminal case against the owner,” said the Mayor. He announced a compensation of '1 lakh to the families of each of the deceased. Lakshminarayan said he had already issued a notice to the house owner to vacate tenants.

Adugodi police have registered a case. Yadav has been arrested and produced before a court. He has been remanded to judicial custody, police said.

Next: Girl killed in neighbour’s house

Girl killed in neighbour’s house

It was  bad luck for two-year-old Savita, who was in her neighbour, Bindu’s house when it collapsed. Bindu’s father Ravi, a daily wager, had left for work by then. Bindu and her mother Meena were in the house when the building collapsed.

Ravi’s elder sister Ratnamma, who had come to visit him, too was at the house, and has sustained fractures. Ravi said, “Savita was always at our house. She liked Bindu, they played together. She was like my daughter and I feel guilty that she lost her life in my house.”

Savita was the daughter of Vijay, a worker at the National Dairy Research Institute, and Sujatha, who hail from Tamil Nadu. They lived close to Ravi’s house.
The deceased Bolha Singh and Malkan Singh and the injured Rajveer Singh were brothers and hailed from Uttar Pradesh. They came to the city two years ago and were paani puri and jowar vendors.

Next: ‘Couldn’t save Savita’

‘Couldn’t save Savita’

Recalling the incident, Bindu said she was playing with Savita; her aunt was also in the house. “My aunt felt the building collapse and started screaming. I ran out of the house just in time. Savita was at the other end of the room, I couldn’t even see what happened to her. My aunt fractured her shoulder, but managed to escape,” Bindu said.

Her mother Meena, who was outside, escaped unhurt. “I was standing outside the house when it collapsed. I was screaming, and the building collapsed in no time, ,” she said.

There were two other families living in the building. Krishna­murthy, his wife Shaila, son Raju and daughter Shruthi, who were living in one of the houses, had gone to their native place when the incident occurred. Also, Velliyamma and her son Prabhu, who were living in the other house, had gone to a house nearby, where Velliyamma’s elder son lives.