Three killed, three injured as godown wall collapses on shed

Wall was weakened because of heavy rain on Monday night

October 01, 2014 10:35 am | Updated April 18, 2016 09:06 pm IST - COIMBATORE:

The shed at the Kamatchi Temple on Sirumugai Road in Mettupalayam, which collapsed during the early hours of Tuesday. PHOTO: SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT

The shed at the Kamatchi Temple on Sirumugai Road in Mettupalayam, which collapsed during the early hours of Tuesday. PHOTO: SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT

Three persons were killed and three others injured in Mettupalayam after a godown wall collapsed on a shed during the early hours of Tuesday following heavy rain on Monday night. The District Rural Police have charged the godown owner with negligence.

According to police sources, B. Palanisamy (42), a priest in the Kamatchi Temple on Sirumugai Road, was sleeping in a shed inside the temple with five others. The rain resulted in a portion of an adjacent godown wall collapsing on the shed.

The Mettupalayam station of Tamil Nadu Fire and Rescue Services was informed. Two vehicles including a fire tender reached the spot immediately.

A team led by Mettupalayam Station Officer R. Palanisamy began removing the debris. S.R. Chandran, District Fire and Rescue Services Officer, Coimbatore Division, led the rescue operations.

Recovered

The rescue personnel recovered the body of Palanisamy. He had died under the impact of the wall collapse. He had been conducting Navarathri puja with help of his brothers B. Somasundaram (38) and B. Kumar (23). While Somasundaram was rescued alive, Kumar and his relative K. Prabhakaran died on the spot.

The fire service personnel also rescued Senthil (36), a lorry driver, and Manikandan (23), both of whom were helping Palanisamy with the Navarathri puja. The entire rescue operation was completed within an hour, sources said.

All the injured were taken to the Coimbatore Medical College Hospital (CMCH) after first aid at the Government Hospital at Mettupalayam. They are suspected to have suffered fractures in the pelvic bones besides head and chest injuries. Collector Archana Patnaik visited the injured at the hospital.

The bodies were also taken to CMCH for post-mortem. Revenue Divisional Officer V. Gunasekaran said that he would recommend compensation for the injured from the Tamil Nadu Relief Fund.

Based on a complaint by Mettupalayam Police Inspector Veerpandi, a case has been registered against Gopal, the owner of the godown.

Sections 337 (causing hurt by act endangering life or personal safety) and 304 (a) (causing death of a person through rash or negligent act not amounting to culpable homicide) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) have been invoked. Further investigations are on.

0 / 0
Sign in to unlock member-only benefits!
  • Access 10 free stories every month
  • Save stories to read later
  • Access to comment on every story
  • Sign-up/manage your newsletter subscriptions with a single click
  • Get notified by email for early access to discounts & offers on our products
Sign in

Comments

Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.

We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of The Hindu and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.