CHENNAI : When 25-year-old Ganesan, a construction worker, left for work on Saturday, all his thought were on the salary he was to receive after a tough month’s work. However, by the end of the day, he was on the SRU premises, counting his lucky stars for surviving the building collapse that killed a few of his co-workers.
“It was all over in a matter of seconds. No one saw it coming,” said Ganesan, still reeling under the shock.
His phone rings constantly, a perplexed family enquiring about his safety from his native Theni, after having witnessed the visuals of the incident across television news channels. He assures his parents that he would be on his way to meet them the very next day.
Ganesan, who said he was on the third floor at the time of the incident, ran for the stairs as soon as he realised with a sudden dread that the building was beginning to cave in. Even as the entire building came down, it was the one pillar which held firm for a few precious seconds that facilitated Ganesan’s escape.
“All I could think of was to run to the ground, to safety,” he said. “I lost people whom I considered family for the last two years. No amount of words or grief can bring them back now,” he said, struggling to control his tears.