Woman, daughter killed as house ceiling collapses

The deceased were identified as Sangeetha and Yuvasree. Meanwhile, Sangeetha’s husband Venkatesan suffered injuries on his leg and son Krishnakumar was in a state of shock. The incident happened around 12.30 am when the family was asleep in the house at Venkatesapuram, said police.

“A portion of the ceiling in their ground-floor house suddenly came down on Sangeetha and Yuvasree, who were sleeping on the floor. Venkatesan and Krishnakumar were sleeping on the bed. The debris fell on Yuvasree’s forehead and broke the skull. While Sangeetha didn’t have any external injury, she might have died of shock,” said police.

Hearing their cries, neighbours rushed them to the Stanley Medical College Hospital but they were declared dead on arrival. Venkatesan and Krishnakumar are under medical observation, said police.

Venkatesan is working with a third-party agency of a telecom company and Sangeetha was a home maker. Yuvasree and Krishnakumar were Class 2 and LKG students respectively. The family moved to the house two years ago.

“The building is a 25-year-old structure and has 10 houses – four houses each on the ground and first floors and two houses on the second floor. Venkatesan’s family was staying at one of the houses on the ground floor,” said police. The house owner Kasi Mariappan of Vyasarpadi was arrested under bailable sections and released, said police.

Venkatesan’s friend and former colleague Munwar Basha, who was at the hospital, told DT Next that Venkatesan returned to work only last week after he met with an accident a few months ago. “He was bed-ridden for two months. As he suffered a spine injury, he could not move freely and ride a two-wheeler. Only last week, I found him a new job and he started working again. But another tragedy has struck the family,” he said. Munwar Basha said that Venkatesan had asked the house owner to repair the damaged ceiling. “The ground floor portion of the building alone was built with saline sand. So, the concrete in the ceiling was unable to withstand the weight of the structure built over it. Had the house owner made precautionary steps, the two lives could have been saved,” he said.