CHENNAI: Tension mounted near LIC Metro Rail station at Anna Salai when a huge cement slab from the first floor of a century-old building, in which a branch of Andhra Bank is also functioning, crashed down on the parked vehicles on Monday afternoon. A 27-year-old driver had a narrow escape after stones fell down on the car he was sleeping in.
“Motorists stopped vehicles and ran towards the debris. Three cars belonging to the bank were damaged along with three two-wheelers. Only one car suffered severe damage,” said a police officer.
Raj Kumar, a driver of the bank, sleeping in one of the cars, said, “I returned to work on Monday after one-week leave for sickness. I had a deep sleep when I heard a huge thud. Before I could realise, there was dust around the cab and my fellow drivers were running towards me.”
Other cab drivers said the cement slab damaged the rear windshield of a car while a few stones fell on the car in which Raj Kumar was sleeping. “For a moment we thought Raj Kumar was dead and was relieved to see him get out of the car,” said a driver.
On information, the fire and rescue teams and Anna Salai police rushed to the spot. Two rescue teams each from Anna Salai and Triplicane with hydraulic lifts and ladders cleared the area. A senior fire service officer told Express,
“The building is pretty old and Metro Rail runs right under the building. We suspect that this could be the reason. We have asked the bank officials to stay away from the bank for at least two days.”
Bank officials, who ran out of the bank soon after the incident, said that they did not feel any kind of vibration but after the cement slab fell, there were some crumblings inside the office as well. “It was fortunate that there were no casualties. We learned that a man was just stepping inside the bank when the slab fell,” said an officer.