Mysuru: Seeing his house about to collapse, a fifty-year-old man managed to save all his four family members by leading them outside one-by-one but was crushed under the ceiling and crumbling walls as he was coming out of the house.

He was the last to come out of the house and was buried under the rubble. Efforts to resuscitate him failed and his body lay between wailing family members who said, “Nammnella kaapadi avanu satthu hoda…” (he saved us all and died).

These heart-rending scenes were witnessed at Soppinakeri Second Cross of Mandi Mohalla behind Sri Nagaraja Talkies where a dilapidated house collapsed at 6 am. The house that stood on a 20×35 plot inside a narrow gully was built over 100 years ago and is owned by one Narayanachar. Nagesh Rao and his family had rented the house and the family depended on daily wage income. According to family members, today at 6 am, Nagesh woke up and saw mud falling from different sides of the ceiling and realised quickly that the house was about to collapse. Immediately, he woke up his other family members who were asleep and asked them to rush out of the house.

Nagesh managed to rescue his wife Bharathi, mother Leelavathi, son Jeevan and Raju, a relative. As the family members were rushing out of the house, the structure started crumbling and Bharathi sustained severe injuries. Nagesh was the last to come out and as he neared the door, the entire ceiling collapsed over him.

The shocked family members screamed for help and neighbours rushed to the rescue. They managed to clear the rubble and lifted Nagesh from the debris. Fire Service personnel arrived at the spot and tried to resuscitate Nagesh but he had died already.

The century-old twin house was built using mud and Madras Ceiling and the recent rains had weakened the walls that had absorbed rainwater. While Nagesh and his family stayed in one of the houses, the other portion was not occupied. Nagesh’s wife Bharathi was rushed to K.R. Hospital and her condition is said to be serious. Other family members too sustained minor injuries and they have been treated as outpatients.

The family has been staying in this house for quite some time and depended on daily wage work for livelihood. As the body of Nagesh was brought out from the rubble, poignant scenes were witnessed in the locality where his family members were wailing in front of the body.

An inconsolable Nagesh’s mother Leelavathi said that her son was looking like he was possessed and he ensured all family members were safe. “His presence of mind and urgency to send us out of the house saved all of us. My son sacrificed his life for us,” she said with tears rolling down her eyes.

Tension prevailed for some time as the neighbours and other people in the locality assembled at the spot and accused Mysuru City Corporation (MCC) of negligence. Chamaraja MLA Vasu, however, intervened and pacified the residents. Blaming the recent rains that had weakened the house further, he directed the MCC authorities to identify such old buildings and vacate the residents with suitable compensation from the civic body. Mayor M.J. Ravikumar, Mandi Police Inspector Ansar Ali and staff, MCC Commissioner G. Jagadeesha, Health Officers Dr. Nagaraju and Dr. Ramachandra, Development Officer Jagadeesh, Corporators Ramani and Nandeesh Preetham, MUDA Chairman D. Dhruvakumar, former MUDA Chairman L. Nagendra, City BJP President Dr. B.H. Manjunath, Assistant Commissioner H.N. Shivegowda, and Tahsildar T. Ramesh Babu were present.

Solatium

Nagesh’s family has been paid a compensation of Rs. 4 lakh from National Disaster Relief Fund and Assistant Commissioner Shivegowda handed over the cheque. Also, seeing the plight of the family members who have no roof over their heads, several VIPs paid money they could offer to Nagesh’s son Jeevan.