12 injured as roof of church under construction collapses in Thoothukudi

THOOTHUKUDI: Twelve were injured after a portion of the roof collapsed while construction work was under way at a church in Vellapatti village in Thoothukudi district on Thursday. One of them sustained grievous injuries in the incident.

The police, fire and rescue services personnel rescued the injured workers who were trapped in the debris and admitted them to the Thoothukudi Government Medical College Hospital. The condition of worker Rajkumar (45) is critical, as he was unconscious when he was admitted to the hospital. The other workers sustained injuries to various parts of their bodies. However, the police said the injuries to the other workers are not grievous.

Explaining the cause of the incident, a police source said that the wooden poles and iron rods used to support the concrete roof had given way due to the heavy load, causing the roof to collapse suddenly around noon. The workers were trapped under the debris, said the police, adding that only twelve of 42 workers engaged in the work sustained injuries.

It is said that cement, gravel and iron rods had been loaded onto the roof for laying the concrete roof of the church. “Some workers who were actively engaged in laying the concrete roof fell along with the materials,” the source added.

The injured were identified as Moorthy (38) of Manthithoppu in Kovilpatti, Anthoniraj (52) of Vellapatti, Ramar (29) of Thattaparai, Rahul Hussain (32) of Bihar, Manikandan (22) of Amudha Nagar in Thoothukudi, Subash (22) of Kurukkuchalai, Muralidharan (42) of Paruthikudi in Kumbakonam, Vijay (44), Sekar (42) of Kadayan in Tenkasi district, Chandrasekar (42) of Thalamuthu Nagar and Marianickson (34) of Vellapatti.

The Thalamuthu Nagar police have registered a case, and an inquiry is under way.