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Three people died, and 14 were injured after a slab from an under-construction church collapsed in Vellore’s Manjukrishnapuram on Thursday, September 10. The roof of the CSI Zion Hill Church, where concreting works were underway, collapsed, trapping several workers under the debris.
The deceased were identified as John, a 39-year-old building contractor from Bengaluru, and Emmanuel (45) and Samuel (45), two daily wage labourers from Andhra Pradesh.
The police said that four workers who suffered severe injuries were admitted to the Government Medical College Hospital in Adukkamparai and the Christian Medical College (CMC) Hospital in Vellore. Ten others who were trapped under the debris were rescued and are being treated for minor injuries.
The Thiruvalam police and Katpadi Fire Rescue services, along with a team of 30 from the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and four sniffer dogs from the Arokkam unit, conducted the search and rescue operations. They were also assisted by the police and other officials from Andhra Pradesh.
Vellore district collector PS Leela Alex, Ranipet Superintendent of Police P Sibin and Katpadi MLA Dr M Sudhakar inspected the site. The collector announced an investigation into the incident, promising a thorough review of the approvals and permits related to the construction.
The Thiruvalam Police said that the postmortem of the deceased is ongoing and further investigation is underway.
The district administration has also started raising financial relief for the victims and their families, officials said.
This story was written by a student interning with TNM.