MANGALURU: Two persons lost their lives after a concrete wall collapsed on them while demolishing an old house at Mission Compound on CJ Kamath road at Karangalpady here on Thursday.
The deceased have been identified as James Samuel Jathanna, owner of the house, and his relative and neighbour Edwin Herald Maben.
The incident occurred at around 10:45am on Thursday when the old house was being demolished using an earthmover. A concrete beam collapsed on the duo when they were watching the demolition. They died on the spot. James had returned from Bahrain two months ago and was living in an apartment at Balmatta along with his family.
He had decided to demolish the old house to build a new one. He had started the demolition work on Wednesday. During the demolition, Edwin’s house also was damaged and he had asked James to repair the damaged wall.
Edwin was discussing the same with James on Thursday when a portion of a concrete beam collapsed on them all of a sudden. James is survived by wife and a daughter and while Edwin is survived by his mother, wife and a daughter.
A case has been registered against contractor Dhananjay for negligence under sections 105, 3(5) of the BNS and he is arrested.