Four persons, including a woman, were killed while another suffered severe injuries after the wall of a function hall collapsed at Golnaka in Amberpet on Sunday afternoon.
The tragic incident took place during a marriage ceremony around 2 p.m. at Pearl Garden Function Hall when victims were waiting near the parking area after having lunch.
GHMC’s Disaster Response Force personnel reached the spot and managed to pull out the body of M. Vijayalaxmi (60) from New Nallakunta and rescued three others, who died while undergoing treatment at OGH. The victims were Krishnaiah (19), Sohel (30) and P. Suresh (29), who worked at Jai Ambe Sanitary on Shivam Road.
“They had lunch and were waiting when the newly-constructed wall collapsed on them,” said Joint Commissioner of Police (East Zone) M. Ramesh. He said that the wall was built to give a modern look with a glass facade over it.
“The foundation was so poor that it could not take the weight and resulted in the tragedy,” he said. “The wall was constructed without any structural support for elevation. They put a beam on the wall, which had no foundational support and placed a glass facade on it,” he added.
Sunday’s marriage ceremony was the first to be held on the renovated premises, he said. Amberpet police registered a case under Section 304-II (Culpable homicide not amounting to murder) against the hall owner, who is currently at large. “Teams are formed to nab the accused,” police said. Meanwhile, Deputy Commissioner of GHMC, Amberpet, Venugopal said that the function hall owner did not have permission for renovation. Mayor B. Rammohan announced an ex gratia of ₹2 lakh to the victims’ kin. More than 10 bikes and two autos were mangled in the incident.
