Chennai building collapse: death toll rises to 19


Chennai building collapse: death toll rises to 19

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The News Minute | June 30, 2014 | 05:01 pm IST The toll in the collapse of an 11-storey building in Chennai has gone up to 19, while 22 people have been injured. Two people, including a


35-year-old woman, were rescued on Monday morning after 39 hours of being trapped under the debris. About 40 people are feared to be still trapped. In a statement issued in Chennai, Tamil


Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa announced an increase in solatium to the families of the dead belonging to Tamil Nadu by Rs.500,000 to Rs.700,000. She said the Andhra Pradesh government has


announced a solatium of Rs.500,000 to the families of dead belonging to it. As four of the dead belong to Tamil Nadu, Jayalalithaa said the government increased the solatium.The


under-construction residential building in Moulivakkam area in Porur collapsed on Saturday evening, trapping over 70 people.Citing the magnitude of debris on the site, a fire service


official said it would take at least another day to clear it.The residential project Trust Heights was being developed by Prime Sristi Housing Pvt. Ltd. The project comprised of two


11-storey blocks - The Belief and The Faith.Most of the people who were trapped under the debris are said to be construction workers and some might have taken shelter in the building as it


was raining at the time of the collapse, people in the area said.Police arrested five people, two of whom - Manoharan and his son Muthu - are the project developers and the others are


engineers.More than 15 fire tenders and 150 firefighters, National Disaster Response Force personnel and those from other state government agencies are involved in the rescue work.Giant


steel rod cutters and other equipment have been pressed into service, while sniffer dogs and sophisticated cameras are at the accident site to locate trapped people.According to a report by


The Hindu, police sources said that the engineers did not undertake monthly inspections of the building for the past two months.Concerns were raised when rescue work was halted for over two


hours after Jayalalithaa came to visit the spot. When asked if the situation could have been prevented, she said that the "question was "mischievous and politically motivated".With input


from IANS