Seven people, including two children, were killed and seven others injured after a compound wall at Bowring and Lady Curzon Hospital collapsed during heavy rains in Bengaluru on Wednesday.
The victims, many of them street vendors and pedestrians, had taken shelter along the wall when strong winds, rain and a hailstorm struck the area. The structure gave way suddenly, trapping them under debris. Seven people died on the spot.
Emergency personnel, assisted by local residents, used an earthmover to retrieve bodies and the injured.
Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah visited the site along with senior civic and police officials and reviewed the situation.
Expressing concern, he said, “Seven people have died. Out of them, two are children. Seven people are injured. All of them are stable. They are all out of danger. I have told the doctors to provide treatment free of cost.”
He announced a compensation of Rs 5 lakh each for the families of the deceased. “Rs 5 lakh solatium will be given to the kin of each deceased. Because, unfortunately, those who died are very poor people - traders, street vendors,” he said.
The Chief Minister ordered an inquiry into the incident. “We will conduct an inquiry to see whether the engineers are at fault. If they are found responsible, action will be taken against them immediately,” he said.
Pointing to possible causes, Siddaramaiah noted ongoing civil work within the premises. “Prima facie, it appears to have fallen due to that pressure. So I have asked the engineers, the Executive Engineer and Assistant Executive Engineer, whether they had checked if it had become weak or not,” he said, referring to soil allegedly dumped against the wall.
Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar, who rushed to the spot, said several people had gathered near the wall to escape the rain. “I am deeply pained to learn about this incident. Such things should not have happened. Many trees have fallen, and vehicles were damaged. I will direct officials to cut the weak trees because there was a risk of such tragedies happening again during the monsoon,” he said.
He added that four people from Kerala were among those affected, including two who died. Arrangements were being made to conduct postmortems and transport the bodies.
Meanwhile, Leader of the Opposition R. Ashoka slammed the government, calling the incident a result of negligence. “How many more lives must be sacrificed at the altar of poor infrastructure and civic apathy? While the Congress government indulges in tall claims of 'Brand Bengaluru,' the crumbling walls of a premier government hospital in the heart of the city tell a different, more lethal story. For this Congress Government, it seems the lives of the poor and the common man are disposable,” he said.
BJP State president B.Y. Vijayendra urged the government to take responsibility and ensure adequate compensation and treatment for victims.
(With inputs from PTI)