At least 20 people, including the site engineer, are reported to have sustained injuries, a few of them seriously, after an under-construction building collapsed in Kaithapoyil in Kozhikode district of Kerala on Tuesday, January 18 morning. The multi-storeyed building was under construction in the Markaz Knowledge City.
According to preliminary reports, thirteen persons, including three with serious injuries, have been admitted at the Kozhikode Medical College Hospital. Police, along with the fire and rescue officials swung into action as soon as the building collapsed. Reports also suggest that most of the injured workers are from other states.
The accident reportedly happened while the work of concreting was going on, at around 11 am. Locals who were nearby rushed to the spot to provide initial help.
As per a report in The New Indian Express, the Knowledge City is a project owned by a trust, which is led by Kanthapuram Aboobackar Musliyar. Earlier, there were allegations that the building was being constructed on unauthorised land, flouting norms. The Knowledge City comprises a comprehensive project including many educational institutions and township.
In a building collapse last year during heavy rains at Mudavanmugal, six persons, including a 22-day-old baby, were rescued by the Thiruvananthapuram fire force. They were trapped when a concrete wall collapsed and fell on top of their house. The wall collapsed around midnight on October 16.
The house was made of metal sheets and rented to the six people inside it, the oldest among them being an 80-year-old. Half the house was destroyed in the wall collapse.
With PTI inputs