CUDDALORE/CHENNAI: Two boys were crushed to death and one of their classmates was injured when a portion of a dilapidated building collapsed on them at Samathuvapuram in Cuddalore district.
The deceased were M Sathish Kumar, 17 and D Veerasekar, 17, Class 12 students of Vellakarai Government Higher Secondary School. The injured was T Bhuvanesh, 17, a Class 12 student.
Police said the three students hailing from S Puthur reached Samathuvapuram in Vandikuppam, Capper Hills, in the district on Thursday. They were playing inside a dilapidated building when a portion of the house collapsed on them. The three boys were buried under the debris. People residing near the locality, on hearing the loud noise and screams, alerted police and the fire brigade.
A team of fire and rescue services personnel, which reached the spot with giant machinery, cleared the debris and rescued the three students. The team rushed them to Cuddalore Government General Hospital where the doctor on duty said that Sathish Kumar and Veerasekar were brought dead. Bhuvanesh sustained severe injuries on his head and is undergoing treatment at the hospital. The building that collapsed is one of the 130 housing units proposed by the Tamil Nadu government for Sri Lankan Tamils at Samathuvapuram. The construction began in 2013. But the project was dropped midway as the Sri Lankan Tamils reportedly refused to shift to the locality, citing several reasons.
The government later decided to resume construction and hand over the units to scheduled tribes and transgenders. However, they too refused to shift, citing safety concerns and the project was dropped midway and all the 130 buildings are in dilapidated state currently, posing danger to local people. The call to demolish all the buildings in the Samathuvapuram gathered momentum after Thursday's tragedy. Meanwhile, chief minister M K Stalin, while condoling the death of the two boys, announced a solatium of Rs2 lakh each to the families of the deceased students and ₹50,000 to the family of the injured from the chief minister's relief fund.
