A team of firefighters, after over five hours of intense search, recovered a body of a middle-aged man from the debris of a building that collapsed near the N Nathervali Dargah here on Thursday night M. Basheer Ahmed (49) was trapped in the fourth floor of the building.
It was a challenging task for the firefighters as they had to carry out the rescue operation in the narrow and congested locality. Having rescued five persons from the building, they continued their search operation late into the night following information that one of the occupants was missing. They managed to enter the top portion of the structure and found the man in unconscious state. Fire and Rescue Department authorities said a huge beam had fallen over him.
They had to cut the beam to recover the man around 2 a.m.
He was taken to the Mahatma Gandhi Government Hospital where he was declared dead.
Official sources said of the five persons who sustained injuries, two were undergoing treatment and the others discharged.
Clearing of the debris was being carried out by the corporation with the assistance of the Fire and Rescue Services Department.
Khadi and Village Industries Minister T.P. Poonachi, Government Chief Whip R. Manoharan, Collector K.S. Palanisamy and other officials inspected the spot on Friday.
Meanwhile, police arrested S. Jalaludeen, who is said to have bought the property recently. He has been booked under Sections 337 (causing hurt by act endangering life or personal safety of others), 338 (causing grievous hurt by act endangering life or personal safety of others) and 304 A (causing death by negligence) of the IPC.