At least four persons, including a five-year-old boy, were killed and five others critically injured in the collapse of a 70 year-old residential building here early on Sunday.
An 18-month-old girl child of a deceased couple, had a miraculous escape as she was pulled out safely from the debris hours after the collapse of the three-storey building.
The residents of the building were asleep when it collapsed around 3 AM, police and fire brigade officials said. The deceased were identified as Karthick (30), his son Harish (5) and the couple -- Palani and Rajathi, they said.
Chief Minister K Palaniswami condoled the deaths and announced an ex-gratia of Rs 2 lakh each to the next of kin of Karthick and his son Harish and said Rs 5 lakh will be deposited with the Tamil Nadu Power Finance and Infrastructure Development Corporation limited as relief for the 18 month-old girl of the deceased couple.
He said a monthly interest of Rs 4062 from the deposit will be used for the child's monthly expenses. The Chief Minister also announced Rs 50,000 as compensation for injured. Officials said the ground floor of the building, located on the Thanjai Kula street, adjoining the Rockfort area, could have got weakened due to heavy rains overnight, leading to the collapse.