Date:08/04/2008 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2008/04/08/stories/2008040858630300.htm

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Part of Royapuram building collapses

Staff Reporter

— Photo: V. Ganesan

WEAK STRUCTURE: The building on Thoppai Street in Royapuram, a part of which collapsed on Monday.

CHENNAI: A teenager was injured when a part of a building under repair in the congested Thoppai Street in Royapuram caved in on Monday morning.

Fifteen families, with nearly 100 members, including the teenager, living in the building thus became homeless. The incident created panic in the area. R.C. Manoharan, a witness to the collapse, said: “I saw three men working on the two-storeyed building’s terrace. When I noticed a portion of the parapet wall shaking, I told them to move away. Moments later, a piece of the wall from the terrace fell.” Fire service personnel rescued the residents trapped on the second and first floors using a ladder.

House sealed

The police sealed the house and the displaced families were sent to a community hall in the neighbourhood.

The damaged building, constructed 36 years ago, had 17 dwelling units on the two floors and a majority of them had been rented out. The police arrested house owner’s son, Selvam (40), and registered a case for rash and negligent act and causing injury, under Sections 279 and 337 of Indian Penal Code, against him and two of the three men who were working on the terrace.