One person died and 32 were injured when the scaffold and iron girders of a hospital under construction in Taramani area collapsed on Saturday evening, PTI reported. All others who were trapped under the debris – mostly migrant workers – have been rescued, according to The Hindu.
Kancheepuram Collector P Ponniah did not reveal the name of the hospital or the builder. However, police officials said a case would be registered against unidentified persons.
“One person identified as Bablu died,” PTI quoted Tamil Nadu Health Secretary J Radhakrishnan, who visited the spot, as saying. “Twenty-seven people have been rescued and are undergoing treatment as in-patients at hospitals.”
Five others were treated as out-patients, he added. Twelve people were sent to the Government Hospital at Royapettah while the others are being treated at a private hospital on the Old Mahabalipuram Road. Radhakrishnan said that the government would bear their medical expenses.
The health secretary also said that three of those admitted in the hospital have undergone surgery.
Ponniah said late on Saturday that there were 20 people at the spot. However, one of those rescued said that 50 of them were at the site when the scaffolding collapsed. “There were 50 of us. Many ran away as the structure fell,” Sagar Yadav, a migrant worker from Uttar Pradesh, told The Hindu.
The mishap took place around 7 pm. Four fire tenders, several ambulances and two earth movers were pressed into service. At night, personnel from the National Disaster Response Force and the State Disaster Response Force joined the rescue effort.
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