CHENNAI: A portion of a ceiling collapsed at Sekhmet club on Chamiers Road in Alwarpet in Chennai late on Thursday, leaving three people dead. The three victims, all employees of the pub, have been identified as Max (22) and Lalli (24) of Manipur and Cyclone Raj (48) of Tiruchy.
Meanwhile, while some media reports and locals claimed that the accident could have occurred due to metro rail work, CMRL denied the allegation. Around 17 workers and three patrons were at the pub when the incident occurred on the first floor of the club. According to police sources, while one body was recovered first, the other two were recovered some time later.
Corporation Commissioner J Radhakrishnan, who was at the spot, said, “While it is a part of the roof that collapsed. It is not completely concrete nor would it be right to say that it was a part of the false ceiling.” He added that while the roof is intact, another layer of ceiling below the roof, measuring 10 feet by 10 feet, collapsed.
A worker from Kolkata, who joined the club only on Thursday as a housekeeping staff, said he heard a loud thud when he had gone to a nearby room. “When I came out, I saw that the entire part of the ceiling has come down. There were a few customers. They ran out quickly,” he said.
Officials say bar had a valid licence, inquiry on to ascertain reason behind roof collapse
According to police, while initially one body was recovered, other two were recovered later. Both the State and National Disaster Rescue Force are at the spot and working on clearing the debris.
Speaking to media, Prem Anand Sinha, Additional Commissioner of Police, said that rescue operations found that no one else was trapped underneath. “We are conducting inquires to ascertain how the collapse occurred,” he said.
Sinha said that as the ceiling fell on first floor level, the false ceiling of the ground floor too got damaged. But since there was no one on the ground floor, nobody was injured. Radhakrishnan said senior officials from the excise department also visited the spot. They have confirmed that the place was functioning with a valid licence. Senior corporation officials said that they were yet to ascertain the cause of damage.
However, a detailed report is expected tomorrow, said officials. “CMRL wishes to clarify that this unfortunate incident was not due to the ongoing metro rail work as the work is almost 240ft away from the building. No vibrations were noticed in the building,”a CMRL statement read. CMRL officers are also holding on-the-spot investigation.
Speaking to TNIE, metro rail officials said metro work was only being carried out on opposite side of the hotel. The trench cutter worked in the morning but later it was in disrepair. It is 240 ft away diagonally. No building crack or road crack is noticed anywhere by the safety officials who have submitted a report, they added.
This is a developing story.