Woman killed, 3 injured after building collapse in Sowcarpet

CHENNAI: A 60-year-old woman was killed and at least three others were injured after a portion of a dilapidated building on Mint Street in Sowcarpet collapsed on Friday night.

The deceased was identified as U Gangu Devi of Sowcarpet.

Three others- S Sankar (36) of Nookampalayam, S Saravanan (34) of Madhavaram and S Sivakumar (32) of Vyasarpadi suffered injuries and are admitted to Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital (RGGGH). Police sources said that Sankar suffered grievous injuries and is in a critical condition.

Police sources said that the incident happened around 7 pm, when the building caved down suddenly and fell on the pedestrians who were walking along the building. Vendors, who had set up shop along the road, ran for cover and in a few minutes local police and personnel from the Tamil Nadu Fire and Rescue Services (TNFRS) reached the scene.

The woman was taken out of the debris and was taken to a hospital, where she was declared brought dead.

Police said that there are several dilapidated buildings on Mint Street and in the surrounding neighbourhood, some of which are still occupied. There was no person living in the building which collapsed on Friday, police sources said.

The Madras High Court had issued directions to authorities to take action against illegal buildings based on a public interest litigation (PIL) filed by activist late ‘Traffic’ Ramasamy asking for buildings which have become dangerous and require demolition to be brought down.

Riaz, a resident of Sowcarpet said that despite several directions by the court, no action has been taken by the authorities.