Tamil Nadu: 8 die as bus depot roof collapses in Nagapattinam
Eight people were crushed to death and three others injured after roof of a bus terminal collapsed this morning.
Eight employees of the Tamil Nadu State Transport Corporation (TNSTC) were killed after roof of a bus depot in Nagapattinam district collapsed. The incident took place at the Porayar branch of the TNSTC around 3.30 am.
Three other people injured in the incident were rushed to Karaikal General Hospital. Nagapattinam District Collector Dr C Suresh Kumar visited the spot and conducted enquiries. State Transport Minister MR Vijayabhaskar had also left for Porayar, the government officials said.
Reacting to the incident, Vijayabhaskar said that the building was "very old." The family members of the victims will be compensated, the minister said.
The collapsed building was constructed in 1952. The victims were the crew members of the TNSTC and were sleeping in the building, when they were crushed to death. Their bodies were retrieved from the debris by Fire and Rescue Service.
Of the eight persons killed in the incident, seven were employed as driver with the TNSTC while the other victim was a bus conductor. They were identified as Muniyappan, Chandrasekar, Ramalingam, Dhanapal, Prabhakar, Anbarasan, Mannivanna and Balu.
8 dead after roof of a Bus depot's rest room collapses in Tamilnadu's Nagapattinam, 3 people rescued from the debris pic.twitter.com/KpTT5JYE3w- ANI (@ANI) October 20, 2017
This is the second incident of roof collapse at a bus terminal in Tamil Nadu in two months. Earlier on September 7, five persons had died while 15 were injured when roof of a bus terminal collapsed in Coimbatore. In both cases, the building required maintenance which was not done by the TNSTC.
(With inputs from agencies)