Three dead in building collapse in Tamil Nadu, six rescued

Three people, including two women, were killed and six others rescued in a building collapse in the city due to heavy rains, police said on Monday. The single-storey building on Chetti Street suddenly came down at around 10.30 pm on Sunday, they said.

In the impact, an adjoining tiled-roof house also collapsed. The death toll rose to three this evening with the body of a woman being retrieved from the debris after search for nearly 20 hours, police said. Earlier, Chief Minister K Palaniswami condoled the deaths and announced a relief of Rs one lakh each to the kin of the deceased. He prayed for the speedy recovery of the injured.

Police and Fire service personnel toiled hard to clear the debris and managed to rescue six people.

The rescued persons, with minor injuries, were admitted to the Coimbatore Medical College and Hospital, police said.

District Collector K Rajamani and police Commissioner Sumit Saran monitored the operations.

The city experienced heavy rains accompanied by strong winds on Sunday.

In Chennai, Palaniswami condoled the deaths and directed the district administration to ensure due medical care to the injured.

"I have directed providing Rs one lakh each to the family of the victims from the Chief Minister's Public Relief Fund," he said in a statement. Meanwhile, CPI-M MP, P R Natarajan, who visited the area, demanded that the state government make a detailed inquiry into the building collapse.

He attributed the reason to the extensive use of earthmovers as part of cleaning the nearby Selva Chintamani pond which is being beautified under the Smart City project.

Natarajan said only after confirming the strength of the embankment area, works for beautifying the pond should be undertaken.

DMK MLA, N Karthik, who also visited the spot, cited the Smart City project as the reason for the collapse, as the embankment was very weak.