The death toll in the collapse of a dilapidated school building at Thondamanatham near here increased to two with the death of one more person at Jawaharlal Institute of Postgraduate Medical Education and Research (Jipmer) here on Tuesday night.
The 35-year-old dilapidated building of the Ansari Duraisamy Government Higher Secondary School was being demolished with the help of earthmovers on Tuesday when the school Superintendent, Sivabharathi, and multi-tasking workers Ayyanar, Madhavan and Raman went to the terrace to remove a plastic water tank.
The building came down and the four were trapped in the debris.
They were rushed to the Puducherry Government General Hospital where Ayyanar died.
Meanwhile, tension prevailed at Thondamanatham village on Wednesday during the visit of Chief Minister V. Narayanasamy who took stock of the situation in the wake of the death of two persons in the building collapse.
Mr. Narayanasamy, accompanied by Minister for Public Works A. Namassivayam inspected the site and consoled the bereaved relatives of Ayyanar and Sivabharathi.
Slogan shouting
However, the relatives of the victims, along with the residents, raised slogans and insisted that the Chief Minister announce relief amount on the spot.
Even as Mr. Narayanasamy was trying to get into his car, the villagers virtually gheraoed him.
The police intervened and removed them.
Meanwhile, relatives of the victims blocked the road at Pillayarkuppam near here alleging that Oussudu MLA E. Theeppainthan’s assistant Parthasarathy assaulted them for making a plea to the Chief Minister during his visit to the site. Two persons were injured when the police resorted to mild caning to disperse the protesters.
The Chief Minister later told presspersons that 58 school buildings were in a dilapidated condition and the PWD had demolished 28 of them. The government would provide employment to the next of kin of the victims under compassionate grounds
Compensation
In the evening, the Chief Minister announced a compensation of ₹3 lakh each to the next of kin of the two persons killed in the building collapse.
