Hyderabad rains: Eight-month-old girl dies in roof collapse

Hyderabad: In a tragic incident, an eight-month-old baby girl died when the roof of her house, made of asbestos sheets, fell on her at OM Nagar in Rahmath Nagar, Jubilee Hills, when she was asleep.

Due to strong thunderstorms late Tuesday night, a portion of a rain-soaked wall adjacent to the structure collapsed, and the bricks from the structure's railings fell on the asbestos roofed house, where eight-month-old Aavula Jeevanika was residing. The eight-month-old suffered head injuries and died on the spot.  Both Jeevanika and her mother Aavula Jagadevi were asleep at the time of the mishap.

"I fed my daughter Jeevanika milk, ate rice and dal with my husband, and went to bed around 9.30 pm. I awoke to a thump and when I opened my eyes, we were both covered in asbestos sheets; at first, I panicked and feared our house had been struck by lightning. Later, I discovered that bricks that had caved in from the third floor of the adjacent building fell on our roof,” Aavula Jagadevi recounted. Jeevanika’s father Srikanth works as a private security guard.

The eight-month-old girl was rushed to a private hospital in Rahmath Nagar, where the doctors advised the parents to take the baby to a nearby nursing home where the doctors performed CPR.  At 11.40 pm, the parents and relatives took the baby girl to a private hospital in Ameerpet, where the doctors declared her brought dead. The body of the baby girl was shifted to Osmania General Hospital for post-mortem. A case under 304 (A) and 337 (causing death by negligence was registered).