3 killed in building collapse
Three persons, including a temple priest, were buried alive
By : DC Correspondent
Update: 2014-10-01 03:45 GMT
Coimbatore: As heavy rains pounded Mettupalayam on Monday night, three persons, including a temple priest, were buried alive and three devotees injured in a building collapse near a temple on the Sirumugai road.
After the Navarathri festival celebrations at the Kamakshi Amman temple on Monday night, six people, including temple priest B. Palanisamy (46), were sleeping in a dilapidated warehouse adjacent to the temple.
Around 3 am on Tuesday, the warehouse building suddenly caved in and fell on to the adjoining temple premises, trapping the six people under the rubble. Though the temple is located opposite the Mettupalayam police station, the police on night duty did not hear the loud thuds of the crashing asbestos roof and the wall made of hollow blocks.
Three-and-a-half hours later, when dawn broke, passers-by noticed the collapsed building and alerted the police. Fire service personnel arrived around 6.30 am with two fire tenders. However, by then Palanisamy, electrician B. Kumar, 23, and a worker in the temple, K. Prabhakaran, 24, were buried alive.
However, three others, S. Somasundaram, 38, Senthil, a lorry driver, and Manikandan, 23, were extricated from the rubble and rushed to the Mettupalayam government hospital for treatment.
The 40-year-old warehouse building was used to stock cloth bags and it was in a run-down condition.
Jayakumar, company commander of Coimbatore district Home Guards, engaged in the rescue operations, said the roots of a tree near the building had weakened its foundation, leading to the collapse.
A case has been registered against warehouse owner, Gopal, under sections 337 (causing hurt by an act endangering life or personal safety of others) and 304 (a) (causing death by negligence) of the IPC.