TIRUCHY:A woman died and two were injured after a house collapsed due to heavy rains in Lalgudi in Tiruchy district on Thursday.
According to police, Balasubramani (50), a retired armyman of Mariamman koil street at Keezha Anbil near Lalgudi had been residing in an old house, which was built with bricks using limestone.
Since the house was already in a rather dilapidated condition, the ceiling began leaking during the rains that lashed the district late on Thursday evening.
Afraid to sleep inside the house, Balasubramani preferred to sleep on the verandah with his son Shyam (21) while his wife B Ganthimathi (45) and daughters B Monisha (24) and G Gayathri (19) sleept inside the house.
As the rains started pounding, some bricks became loose and began to fall from the ceiling inflicting minor injuries on the three.
Dazed in the middle of their sleep, all the three rushed to the verandah. A little later, Ganthimathi went inside the house to check on the condition of the walls. Just then, an entire portion of the ceiling came crashing down and snuffed the life out of her, said the police.
On information, police personnel from Lalgudi and fire and rescue service team rushed to the spot and retrieved the body after removing the debris. The body was sent to the government hospital in Lalgudi for autopsy.
Police registered a case and are investigating.