6 killed as building collapses in Chennai, rescue operations on - Times of India

CHENNAI: At least six construction workers were killed and around 70 others trapped under the debris after a portion of a 12-storey building under construction near Porur in Chennai collapsed in heavy rain on Saturday evening.

The deceased include Muthupandy, 23, of Madurai and Shankar, 27, police said. The dead bodies were sent for postmortem.

Unconfirmed reports said one more person died in the incident.

The accident occurred at around 5pm at the residential apartment complex that is being developed at Mugalivakkam.

Soon, fire and rescue services personnel and police rushed to spot and rescued several workers. The rescued workers, who suffered injuries, were rushed to Sri Ramachandra Medical College and Research Institute .

The rescued who undergo treatment at the hospital include Bhuminathan 40, Selvapandian 29, Lakshmi 40, Ravanammal 45, Pandiarajan 27, Pappa Rao 50, Paul Raj 35, Abdul Khader 45, Panchachalam 67, Prabhu 22, Raju 28, Maruthapandy 25 and Maruthamuthu 25.

READ ALSO: Two NDRF teams join rescue efforts

The Chennai city police registered a case under the Section 304 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder) of the IPC and arrested the building owner, Manoharan, and his son Muthu. They were taken into custody and were being questioned at the police station.

The builders claimed that a lightning had struck one of the towers and that was the cause of the accident. However, police personnel were probing other angles.

Chief minister J Jayalalithaa expressed shock over the incident. She ordered a probe into the incident.

The chief minister directed officials to rescue the trapped workers and give them proper medical treatment.

Upon her directive, the animal husbandry minister T K M Chinnaya, revenue administration commissioner T S Sridhar, Chennai police commissioner S George, Kancheepuram district collector K Baskaran rushed to the spot.

Meanwhile, Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority (CMDA) officials said they gave the permission to Balamurugan and Manoharan to construct twin-tower building at Bai Kadai Shop in Moulivakkam. The permission was granted in June 2013 to build 43 residential apartments in each tower totalling 86 apartment houses.

The CMDA had given permission to construct basement, stilt and an 11-storey apartment on each tower. The shell of the towers have been completed. Madurai-based construction company Prime Sristi has been handling the construction work.

http://ift.tt/1oY51Yi Sristi,Porur in Chennai,Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority

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