Date:15/10/2008 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2008/10/15/stories/2008101557880100.htm

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Rain claims boy’s life as house collapses

Special Correspondent

— Photo: G. Moorthy

RUBBLE NOW: The debris of the wall of a house that collapsed at a Madurai suburb on Tuesday.

MADURAI: An eight-year-old boy, S. Karthik, was killed when a portion of the wall of a house at Rengarajapuram near Koodal Pudur here collapsed in the small hours of Tuesday.

According to a complaint from Village Adminstrative Officer Karuppiah, Sekar, a milk vendor, was residing with his wife Vijaya and son Kartik in a house in the Madurai suburb. When they were fast asleep, a portion of the wall on the eastern side of the tiled-roof house collapsed in the early hours, causing serious injuries to Karthik, Sekar and Vijaya.

In a serious condition, they were rushed to the Government Rajaji Hospital where Karthik was declared ‘brought dead.’ His parents are undergoing treatment at the hospital.

Following incessant rain in Madurai and its peripheries for the past few days, some of the low-lying areas have been inundated.

Roads damaged

With the rain having damaged many roads, residents want the authorities to set right the potholed roads in extension colonies immediately. Officials in the district administration said that they had alerted all village and block level officials to create awareness of safety measures to be followed during heavy rain.