Bengaluru: 2 buildings collapse in Cooke Town, 5 dead

Five people were killed when two adjacent four-storey buildings slumped one after another, crushing those sleeping on the ground floor, at Cooke Town near Banaswadi in the early hours of Wednesday.

Two labourers and a security guard and his family were among the dead when the two buildings on Hutchins Road — one residential and the other under construction — collapsed.

The under-construction building was the first to come down at 2.30 am. About 11 construction labourers were in the building when its pillars gave away. Residents heard loud cracking sounds after which the building came down with a thud.

A room in the stilt parking area was crushed, killing Shambu (38) and Khagen Sarkar (39), both from Bihar. The structure — which was in the final stages of construction with just painting and tile work left — then tilted towards the adjacent residential building, Sai Adi Ambal, where eight families were residing. Soon, the second building also slumped, crushing the ground-floor house in the parking lot where the security guard and his family were staying.

Narayan (28), wife Nirmala (26) and their daughter Anushka (4) were killed in the incident. The family hailed from Nepal.

The residents on the top floors ran down the stairs and jumped through the windows and balconies of the first floor, which slumped and now sits on the ground.

It all happened in the middle of the night... We thought it was an earthquake and rushed outside to see people screaming from the building,” said Simyon, a neighbour.

Firemen reached the spot within 20 minutes. The rescue operations went on till 5.30 pm on Wednesday. Around 150 personnel, including the State Disaster Response Force and Civil Defence personnel, were pressed into service.