Bangalore: Building falls, contractor buried alive

Bangalore: A contractor was buried alive under the debris and three children had a miraculous escape when an under-construction three-storeyed building collapsed at M K Layout in Garudacharpalya 4th Main Road on Wednesday morning. It is suspected that some more persons may have been trapped under the debris. The deceased has been identified as Mohan Nayar.

Earlier, it was suspected that a labourer, identified as Sabanna, 24, was buried alive under the debris. But Sabanna is still missing. The search operations were still on when the last report came in. Eleven-month-old baby Mahalakshmi, Malamma, 7, and Bhagamma, 13, who were playing at the basement area had a miraculous escape. The three were the children of other construction workers who hail from Ramasamudra village in Yadgir district.

According to the police, one Manjunath Nayak was constructing the three-storeyed residential building from five months and ground floor was meant for vehicle parking. The building was said to be illegal as he was not the Khatha holder and had obtained approval for the building plan. The incident occurred around 11.50 am, when around 30 workers were engaged in putting roof slab on the third floor and the children were playing at the ground floor.

“The children luckily survived as they were sitting next to a heap of cement bags.As the building collapsed, a slab fell on the cement bag, slanting so as to form a triangle of sorts rendering no serious harm to the children playing on that spot, except minor injuries. The fire personnel rescued the kids by clearing debris around them. After an operation of about eight hours, Mohan Nayar’s body was found under the debris around 7.30 pm,” the police explained.

Sub-standard work blamed

Meanwhile, the BBMP officials suspected that poor foundation of the building and sub standard materials used in the construction led to the tragedy. They have decided to demolish the building completely.

Mahadevapura police have registered cases under sections 337, 338 (causing grievous hurt by act endangering life or personal safety of others) and under Karnataka Municipal (KMC) Act against Manjunath Nayak and supervisor Thayappa. Further investigations are on, the police stated.