Narrow escape for six as building collapses

• Tea stall man injured while running for safety
• Dilapidated building on Ashoka Road reduced to debris
• Rain continues to wreak havoc in city

Mysore/Mysuru: Two incidents of building collapse occurred in the city last evening and in all, seven persons had a providential escape. While it was a close shave for six persons in the building collapse that occurred on Ashoka Road opposite the City Crime Branch Office, one elderly person who was trapped under a house collapse rubble was rescued at Khille Mohalla.

In the building collapse that occurred on Ashoka Road at around 7.55 pm, a portion of a dilapidated building came crashing even as there were five persons inside a mobile phone shop and a tea stall. One more person was consuming tea at the shop’s counter. Fortunately, the loud creaking sound alerted all the six persons who ran for safety.

But Syed Nawaz, who was manning the tea stall, sustained minor injuries while escaping the crash. A stone fell on his shoulder and another one hit his wrist, causing scratches. Eye-witnesses said that the building, located near St. Philomena’s Church is a property of the Church.

According to Mohammad Saleem, the brother of former Mayor Tasneem, the Church wanted to demolish the dilapidated structure and had issued eviction notices to all the tenants to vacate the building way back in 2015 to facilitate the construction of a new building. While most of the tenants obliged and vacated, a couple of them stayed put and approached the Court for relief.

Eye-witnesses said that following heavy rains, the building had started to make creaking sounds and the local residents had warned the occupants of its imminent collapse and had asked them to shift. This morning, teams from Mysuru City Corporation (MCC) arrived at the spot with earth movers to clear the building rubble. As a case is pending in the Court, the MCC team will not clear the entire rubble but only lift the debris that have fallen on the main road to facilitate smooth movement of traffic. MLA L. Nagendra, former Mayor Tasneem visited the spot and assessed the damage.