Chennai: A section of a 60-year-old hostel building of Madras Medical College on TNPSC Road in Esplanade collapsed on Monday morning, the debris injuring at least five people on the street behind Broadway bus terminus.
The building, with 342 rooms accommodating more than 430 residents, was inaugurated by chief minister K Kamaraj in 1959, and served as a hostel for postgraduate students of MMC. Two years ago, state govt allotted 4.24 acres, including the hostel building, to Madras high court for a new court complex. Hostel residents were relocated to a newly built MMC hostel at the old Central Prison campus near Chennai Central. Recently, workers were assigned to demolish the building for the court complex project, but work had stalled since Diwali.
One of the injured, Viswanatha Iyer from T Nagar, sustained a severe head injury, while pedestrians Lakshmanan and Chokkalingam suffered injuries to their legs and hands. Chokkalingam had been buying groceries. The identities the two others have not yet been confirmed.
Eyewitnesses reported that contractors had failed to implement basic safety measures during demolition. "If there were tin sheets around the site, no one would have been injured," said a local flower vendor, Kumari. Following the accident, police have barricaded the area.tnn