Five killed as building collapses in Banglore

The deceased have been identified as — Savita,2,Padma,45,Manjula,53,Bolha Singh,22,and his brother Malkan Singh,18. Bolha and Malkan Singh earned a living by selling corn on the streets. They had rented a room on the first floor of the building ,DCP (south) H S Revanna said.

He said recent heavy rain had weakened the already dilapidated building. The tenants and owner Jayakrishna Yadav,63,did not maintain it,kRevanna added.

“We have registered a case against Yadav under the non-bailable IPC section 304 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder) and he has been arrested,” he said. “The mud building was very old. The ground floor had two houses and the owner had built three on the first which were covered by cement sheets and rented out,” the Audugodi police said.

Fire and emergency services personnel said they recieved a call at 9 am and rushed to the scene with five vehicles.

According to Charan,a local resident,there was once a school in the building. “They were teaching standard 7,8 and 9 students. After the school was shifted two years ago,Yadav made alterations to the building and rented it out to families. There were three rooms in which three families were living on the first floor. There was a garage on the ground floor,” he said.

Mayor B S Satyanarayana and BBMP Commissioner M Lakshminarayana and other municipal officials visited the site. Satyanarayana said several houses in the compound were about 60 years old. “The houses built using mud are in a bad condition. I have ordered their demolition. I will ask the police to file a criminal case against the owner of the collapsed building,” he said.

The Mayor has announced a compensation of Rs 1 lakh each to the families of the deceased.