5-year-old girl dies in wall collapse in Chennai's Kundrathur
A five-year-old girl, who was sleeping on the roadside with her parents, died after portion of a compound wall collapsed at Kundrathur early on Sunday morning.
Published: 19th August 2019 06:04 AM | Last Updated: 19th August 2019 06:04 AM | A+A A-
Masani, who died when a wall collapsed on her while sleeping in Kundrathur on Sunday | Express
CHENNAI: A five-year-old girl, who was sleeping on the roadside with her parents, died after a portion of a compound wall collapsed at Kundrathur early on Sunday morning.
The deceased was identified as M Masani. Her father Mohan (28) and mother Pushpa (25) are part of a gypsy community of 25 people and used to move around the city and also to Kanchipuram and Tiruvallur. “On Saturday, they had visited several traffic signals and busy commercial establishments and decided to rest on the platform at Kundrathur,” said an investigation officer.
They were sleeping at the platform in front of the Parimalam theatre at Kundrathur. An earthmover had been deployed by the Chennai Metro Water Supply and Sewerage Board (CMWSSB) on contract, to lay an underground pipeline to transfer treated sewage from Koyambedu to Hyundai’s plant in Sriperumbudur.
The incident happened at around 2.30 am on Sunday when it was raining heavily. The earthmover, which was closing the pit after the pipes were laid, hit the wall by mistake, which fell on the other side where Mohan had made his hut. Police said the wall had weakened because of rains.
Masani and Pushpa, who were asleep, were stuck under the debris and were rescued by Mohan and the others. They were rushed to Chromepet government hospital where doctors declared Masani brought dead. Pushpa, who sustained injuries on her legs, has been admitted for treatment.
Based on a complaint by Mohan, police arrested the drivers of the earthmover - Iyyapan and Uthiravel. The Kundrathur police registered a case and sent the body for autopsy to Chromepet government hospital.
