4 die, 5 hurt in house, wall collapse incidents

LUCKNOW: Four persons, including two girls, were killed and five others were injured in five incidents of wall and building collapse in the state capital due to incessant rains on Friday. The incidents took place in Aminabad, Hussainganj, Mahanagar and Lal Kuan areas. Two incidents of house collapse were also reported from Lucknow rural but no one was injured.
In Hussainganj, the roof of a dilapidated single-storey house of one Murtuza Ali near Sheeshe Wali Masjid on Cantonment road collapsed following rains, leading to the death of Mohammed Imtiyaz (28) and Shahabuddin (22) while three others, identified as Nadeem (28), Chand Babu (25) and Abhishek

(30), sustained injuries. The house owner Murtaza Ali lives in another house in the lane. The locals rushed out on hearing a loud thud when the roof collapsed and informed police.

SHO Hussainganj Anand Shukla said, “At around 11.30am, we got information about collapse of a house owned by Murtaza Ali . The house was about 80 years old and was dilapidated. Five persons were taken out from the debris. Two died while three sustained severe injuries and are undergoing treatment at Civil hospital.”

The SHO said that water collected on the roof following incessant rains and seeped into it and the walls leading to its collapse. The victims, all natives of Bahraich district, ran eateries on carts and had been living on rent for years. In another incident in Hussainganj police station area, the boundary wall of a house in Bhedi Mandi, Chhitawapur, collapsed and fell on eight-year-old girl Vaishnavi, a student of Goldie Inter College. Vaishnavi’s mother Nirmala, who was escorting her to school, escaped unhurt and called for help. The girl was taken to KGMU Trauma Centre where she succumbed to injuries.

In another incident reported from Ganeshganj under Aminabad police station, a 12-year-old girl Aashi died and her mother Sarita Mishra (45) sustained injuries after their house collapsed. The house built around 70 years ago. Aashi’s father Sarvesh (45), her two sisters Jyoti (20), Mahak (10), and brother Gaurav (14) were not at home when the incident took place.

ASP (west) Vikas Tripathi reached the spot to supervise the rescue operations. “The incident took place at 8.30am, when Sarita and her daughter Ashi were having tea on the ground floor of the house when a tree in the house fell, causing the walls and roof to collapse. Rescue operation was started but the girl succumbed by the time she was rescued,” said Tripathi. Doctors at KGMU Trauma Centre said that the girl’s neck had broken. Her mother is recuperating at Balrampur hospital.

Another wall collapsed in Batashe waali Gali in Aminabad, Kakori and Nigohan in Lucknow rural region but nobody was injured.

In another incident, a dilapidated portion of single-storey house owned by Raj Kumar Gupta in second lane of Nishatganj, Mahanagar, collapsed following heavy rains. Gupta’s daughter Divyansha (19) sustained minor injuries while other members escaped unhurt.

Lucknow district magistrate Kaushal Raj Sharma said that a compensation of Rs 4 lakh would be provided to the kin of the deceased and Rs 50,000 to those injured. “The houses which collapsed were dilapidated and very old,” said Sharma.