A four-storeyed building being constructed illegally at M.K. Layout in Garudacharpalya collapsed on Wednesday killing one person and leaving three children grievously injured. Miraculously, a five-month-old baby escaped with minor injuries. The body of the deceased was pulled out of the debris by fire and rescue personnel. Rescue workers, late on Wednesday night, said the deceased was identified as Mohan Nair, who was the contractor for the building.
The building, owned by businessman Manjunath Nayak, who runs a plastic manufacturing unit in Mahadevpura, was being constructed without obtaining a sanction for the plan from the civic authorities. The incident occurred at 11.30 am on Wednesday when the workers were engaged in the RCC roofing for the third floor. The injured are Kanakashree (5 months), Mallama (6) and Bhagyamma (7). The children were playing in the basement when the incident occurred. They were rushed to nearby private hospital for treatment. Another construction worker, identified as Sabanna Reddy (25), is missing. The construction workers hailed from Ramasamudra in Yadgir district and were residing at Benniganahalli.
“We used to work at 6 am everyday and finish by 7 pm. Since there was a lot of work on Wednesday, the contractor had hired more people. Sabbanna was working at the concrete mixer and went to the basement to quench his thirst when a part of the building came crashing down. Fire and emergency personnel managed to pull out the trapped children through a gap using cutters and digging a portion of the wall. It took the rescue personnel nearly nine hours to drill into the ground floor to bring out the body of the unidentified person. Speaking to DC, Mr Pradeep K.K., the Emergency Coordinator for Disaster Management Cell, Bengaluru District, said, “We had drilled holes into the first floor hoping that the man who was trapped in the ground floor, could come breathe. Our priority was to bring him out alive. Unfortunately, he could not be saved, though we tried our best.”
Speaking to the media, Mr T.G Krishna Bhatt, DCP-East, said, “The residents of nearby buildings were immediately evacuated so that in case the building tilts more and collapses, there won’t be any danger to life. The construction of the building started in February this year. According to the preliminary investigation, the construction material was sub-standard. The pillars were not strong enough to take the weight of the building.” The Mahadevpura police have registered a criminal case against the building owner, who is absconding.