MANGALURU: A woman and her two young daughters died while three others were rescued after a retaining wall collapsed onto a row of rented houses at Nagori in Kankanady, Mangaluru, following incessant rainfall in the early hours of Wednesday, .
The deceased have been identified as Anamika Chawrasia (8) and Tanu Chawrasia (4) and Shantha (46), a resident of Uchila in Udupi district. Alka Chawrasia (14), Anusha Chawrasia (11) and Shantha’s husband Balakrishna (48) were rescued from the debris by National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) personnel.
Anamika, Tanu, Alka and Anusha are daughters of Lal Bahadur Chawrasia, who migrated from Bihar two decades ago and currently works as a carpentry contractor.
The tragedy occurred between 4.45am and 5am, when the 15-foot retaining wall crashed onto four adjacent tiled-roof houses where the families were asleep.
Two other houses sharing common walls with the affected structures also suffered extensive damage, although their occupants escaped unhurt. Lal Bahadur and his wife Indu escaped unhurt as they were sleeping in another room, while the room in which their daughters were asleep bore the brunt of the collapse.
Neighbours, along with personnel from the nearby Kankanady Police Station, were the first to respond before the NDRF teams arrived.
Health and Family Welfare Minister UT Khader, who visited the accident site and later met the injured at the hospital, announced an ex gratia of Rs 5 lakh each to the families of the deceased.
Khader said the injured persons would receive free medical treatment and compensation in accordance with the NDRF norms.
