Wall collapse kills 7 in Bachupally

Hyderabad: Seven persons, including two women and a four-year-old boy, died and four others suffered injuries after a 30-foot-high recently-built compound wall fell on sheds, where the victims were living at Renuka Yellamma Colony under the Bachupally police limits on Tuesday.

The deceased were identified as Thirupati Majis, 20, Shanker, 22, Raju, 20, and his wife Kushi, 20 — all belonging to West Bengal — and Ram Yadav, 34, and his wife Geeta, 32 and their son Himansu, 4, from Chhattisgarh.

Shiva, a watchman at Horizon Apartments, said he asked 30 construction workers to take rest at the cellar as he suspected heavy rainfall. However, Raju and his wife remembered that they had hung their clothes outside their shed to dry and ran out to fetch them. Some other workers followed Raju and Khushi though it was raining heavily.

Within minutes after they went to the shed, the wall fell on the iron sheeted shed, crushing seven people to death.

The incident, however, was not noticed immediately as the majority of workers were at the entrance, while the mishap happened at the back side of the apartment.

“I stopped Raju by pulling his hand not to go to his shed in heavy rain. But he and his wife went to the shed. Just five minutes after the workers reached their home, the wall collapsed and fell on the shed in which victims were inside,” Shiva said.

Horizon Apartments is being constructed by Rize Developers at Survey No. 403/406 in Renuka Yellamma Colony of Bachupally. Around 300 workers, who were working at the site, came from Chhattisgarh, Odisha, Bihar, and West Bengal.

Amjed, a worker hailing from West Bengal, said, “After learning about the collapse of the wall, they informed the manager of the construction site, who got a JCB clear of debris while it was raining.”

Sayank Ram, another worker from Chhattisgarh, said they had shifted the victims to a local hospital, but the doctors referred them to Gandhi Hospital.

A day after the mishap, municipal staff visited the place and removed the remaining compound wall with another JCB and served a notice to the builder seeking an explanation for negligence in constructing the compound wall.

Meanwhile, the labour commissioner office on Wednesday announced a compensation of `80,000 for each of the four family members in the Bachupally wall collapse mishap. The labour commissioner also provided `50,000 compensation and `30,000 as expenditure for the final rites of the deceased.

In a statement, joint commissioner, labour, Rangareddy, Chaturvedi L. said compensation has been provided and the department has called for an inquiry into the mishap. Based on the report, he said an action will be initiated.