Chennai: One killed in commercial complex wall collapse

Chennai: A 23-year-old man with a push cart ironing shop was killed when he was trapped under the debris from the partial collapse of a compound wall in Goudiya Mutt road, Royapettah. Two others squatting on the platform adjacent to the wall were injured on Wednesday afternoon.  

The deceased was identified as Dhanasekar(23), resident of Ambedkar Nagar, Royapuram. The injured are his neighbours Kalaiselvi (23) and Kuppan (50).
The incident was reported at Nagappa Centre, which houses several IT and ITES companies. The wall of the complex facing Lalithapuram street, which is at least 7 ft high and 40 ft wide, came down crumbling at around 1 pm, trapping the three under the debris.

Since Dhanasekar was standing close to wall with his back facing it while he was ironing clothes, he was trapped completely while the other two were partially buried and were pulled out by the staff working in the complex.

The two were rushed to the Government Royapettah Hospital(GRH) for treatment. The staff also alerted the Tamil Nadu Fire and Rescue Services Personnel and three emergency response vehicles from Guindy, Egmore, and Mylapore rushed to the scene. Since they could not do much about removing the debris, the TNFRS personnel roped in an earthmover from the neighbourhood and cleared the debris to pull out Dhanasekar. On arrival at the GRH, the doctors declared Dhanasekar dead. The body was subsequently moved to the GRH morgue.

Dhanasekar's push cart, Kalaiselvi's shop from which she was selling idlies on the platform Kuppan's push cart were crushed under the debris. A Chevrolet Beat car parked near the compound wall was also damaged. Sources said the cops were investigating the stability of the compound wall. They have registered a case and are on the lookout for the building owner.