Labourer killed as Maharani’s College building collapses
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Labourer killed as Maharani’s College building collapses

January 29, 2025
  • Tragedy unfolds during dismantling works of 107-year-old building
  • Body found amid 20-feet mound of debris
  • 13 others had gone out for tea at the time of the incident

Mysuru: In a tragic incident, a labourer was killed as the dilapidated portion of 107-year-old Maharani’s Science College for Women’s building on JLB Road in city collapsed  yesterday evening.

The incident is said to have occurred at around 5 pm and the body of the deceased labourer was retrieved from about 20-feet mound of the debris, after over seven-hour-long operation at around 2.30 am today.

Saddam Hussain (31) of Tanveer Sait Nagar in Mysuru is the deceased labourer. He is survived by his wife and two daughters, who were left dumbstruck after hearing about the incident and rushed to the mishap site in the night. Grief knew no bounds, when they heard about his tragic death. Hussain’s body was shifted to K.R. Hospital mortuary for post-mortem.

It is said, he was the sole breadwinner for his family and the fellow labourers are demanding compensation for the next of his kin.

The mishap site has been secured by the Police with a tape, prohibiting entry of public while the works have been temporarily suspended.

The work details

A total of 14 labourers including Saddam Hussain were engaged in the dismantling work of doors and windows of the dilapidated portion of the College, as part of the works taken up to raze and rebuild the building on heritage lines at an estimated cost of Rs. 54 crore.

As a precautionary measure, the students had been shifted to another building, prior to launching of the works. Following yesterday’s incident, the District Administration declared holiday for Maharani’s Arts and Science College today (Jan. 29).

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Tea saves 13 lives

While 13 other labourers had gone out for tea, Saddam Hussain was engaged in removing the window frame in the first floor of the building, when the tragedy struck. It is suspected that, following the removal of window frame, the either side of the walls collapsed, followed by the fall of roof.

“As we heard the strange sound, following which the part of the building started to collapse, we ran from the spot leaving behind the tea. We were all working since two days,” said labourer Zabi, who became emotional.

Mobile phone was ringing…

Initially, it was believed that Saddam Hussain may have got stuck in the first floor of the building, but with the roof and walls also collapsed, confusion prevailed over whether he might have been stuck either in the first floor or second floor of the building, amid the debris. His mobile phone was ringing but there was no sight of him (Hussain).

As the darkness engulfed the area, with electricity supply to the college disconnected to facilitate the rescue works, temporary arrangements had to be made with chargeable lights to continue the search operation. Over six fire tenders had been summoned along with the ambulance, which were stationed throughout the rescue operation.

Severed body amid debris

Eventually, when Hussain was found dead amid the debris, that was cleared with the help of a earth-mover, his body had been cut into two parts, much to the shock of Fire and Emergency Services personnel, who were in the rescue operation under the leadership of Chief Fire Officer Jayaramaiah.

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Over 70 Fire and Emergency Services personnel were involved in the rescue operation, including Regional Fire Officer Chandan and District Fire Officer Gururaj.

Rescue operation

Apart from jurisdictional Lakshmipuram Police, the Fire and Emergency Services personnel drawn from over 10 Stations from neighbouring districts like Chamarajanagar, Mandya, Kodagu and Hassan, were also part of the rescue operation, along with Mysuru City Corporation (MCC) and volunteers of Humanitarian Relief Society, an NGO.

As it is a heritage and delicate structure, requiring utmost care to dismantle the building, the labourers were deployed to work, rather than deputing machineries like earth-moving vehicles and cranes, normally used in such civil works nowadays.

DC G. Lakshmikanth Reddy, Narasimharaja MLA Tanveer Sait, Chamaraja MLA K. Harishgowda, MLC K. Vivekananda, City Police Commissioner Seema Latkar, MCC Commissioner Shaikh Tanveer Asif and Inspector of Lakshmipuram Police Station Ravishankar visited the spot.

Roof of College Lab had collapsed in 2022

Over two years ago, on Oct. 21, 2022, a portion of the roof of the Chemistry Laboratory of the same Maharani’s Science College had collapsed. Following the incident, the building had joined the list of damaged heritage structures, with the city witnessing similar incidents in the past, with the facade and portico of Fire Station at Saraswathipuram, also meeting similar fate in August 2019.

Following heavy rains on that ill-fated day, a portion of Chemistry Lab came falling down at around 10.42 am. However, no casualty was reported as fortunately the teaching faculty and students stepped out of the building a few minutes prior to      the incident then.

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