One labourer died and another is battling for his life at Government Stanley Hospital, after a balcony on the first floor of a house being constructed in Nehru Nagar, Vyasarpadi, collapsed on Sunday.
Police said the victims were S. Gothandapanni (45), a resident of Ezhil Nagar, Kodungaiyur and K. Sundar (40), from Nellore in Andhra Pradesh.
The two were on the ground floor of the house, when at 12.30 p.m. a balcony above them came crashing down. They were rushed to hospital by local residents. Around 9.30 p.m., Gothandapanni succumbed to his injuries. Sundar is in a critical condition, hospital authorities said.
Around 10 workers were at the construction site at the time of the accident, working on various portions of the house. Work on the 1,500 sq. ft. house, belonging to K. Senthil, began seven months ago. Work on the balcony had begun three weeks ago.
“As it was a Sunday, a few workers were resting inside the house. Fortunately, there were no children playing on the street. Otherwise, there would have been more injuries,” said K. Devi, a resident of First Street, where the house is located.
In order to prevent further incidents, a six-member team of fire service personnel from SM Nagar in Vyasarpadi was brought to the site.
Along with the police, the team cordoned off the area to ensure children did not inadvertently enter it.
A case has also been filed by the Vyasarpadi police. “We are investigating the incident as it indicates poor standards in the construction of the building. The owner of the building, the contractor and the engineers involved will all be questioned,” said a police officer.
Sunday’s incident is the latest in a series of incidents where construction labourers have been injured or lost their lives. In March this year, a contract labourer died and two other workers were injured when a building’s dilapidated compound wall collapsed on them in Thiru-Vi-Ka Nagar, Perambur.
Police arrested the contractor of the Thiru-Vi-Ka Nagar project, K. Subramani, for negligence. A huge amount of sand had been dumped on one side of the wall, the weight of which caused it to collapse.
