Thrissur: Raising serious questions on the upkeep and maintenance of old buildings in the city, a two-storey building accommodating migrant workers collapsed early on June27 in Kodakara town in Thrissur, leaving three migrant workers dead.
The building, located near the Kodakara Panchayat office, housed 17 migrant workers. Fourteen of them managed to escape unhurt, while three were trapped under the debris.
The incident occurred around 6 am, when most of the residents were preparing to leave for work.
Meanwhile, the Congress and the BJP councillors questioned the city corporation officials who are members of the CPM and the CPI.
“The corporation of Thrissur should provide an answer for this incident. We have flayed this matter long back at various meetings. There are nearly 20 such buildings which are more than 30 years old that is in the verge of collapse”, said a BJP councillor at the Thrissur corporation while protesting to the media
The building, located near the Kodakara Panchayat office, housed 17 migrant workers. Fourteen of them managed to escape unhurt, while three were trapped under the debris.
The victims have been identified as Rahul (19), Rupel (21), and Aleem (30), all hailing from West Bengal. Rahul was pulled out alive but succumbed to injuries at the hospital. Rupel’s and Aleem’s bodies recovered from the rubble.
Though the search and rescue team retrieved them, all of them succumbed to injuries.
Two days ago, a 22-year-old who was travelling along with his mother fell into a pothole at the main road in the city following which he succumbed to injuries. There was a massive outrage and protest from the public following the incident.
Constructed using laterite bricks, the decades-old building is suspected to have collapsed due to heavy rainfall that lashed the area the previous night.
Local residents, along with police and fire and rescue teams, launched an intensive search operation at dawn. A JCB was later deployed to help clear debris, which enabled rescuers to locate the trapped victims more quickly.