A 45-year-old, five-storey, unoccupied building on Peter’s Road just opposite New College collapsed in Royapettah on Monday night. No casualties have been reported so far.
The building was built on a 1,560 sq ft plot of land by a businessman from Kerala, and four more floors were later constructed. The building was earlier occupied by 14 tenants. The family of a former Congress MP bought the building from the original owner, after which 13 tenants vacated the premises.
The remaining tenant occasionally used the premises. The family of the former MP had instituted a civil case against her.
The building collapsed around 9 p.m. after the tenant and her son left the premises.
On receiving the alert, the police and the Fire and Rescue Services personnel rushed to the spot and began operations.
Deputy Commissioner of Police, Triplicane, G. Dharmarajan and other police officers visited the spot.
Traffic on Peter’s Road was hit as the search and rescue operations were under way. “We have contacted the owner of the building for enquiry,” a police officer said.
The building collapse resulted in a huge cloud of dust and sand, residents said. Weak structure was cited as the cause for the collapse, said sources.