Eight killed as roof crashes on resting TN transport workers

  • | Saturday | 21st October, 2017

Eyewitnesses said the ceiling came down with a defeaning crash on the sleeping drivers identified as Muniyappan, Chandrasekar, Prabakaran, Manivannan, Dhanapal, Anbarasan and Balu. Three other TNSTC employees identified as Venkatesan, Senthil and Premkumar were rescued by the Tharangambadi fire service station personnel and sent to the Karaikal GH for treatment. On September 7, the roof of a bus terminal near Somanur in rural Coimbatore collapsed leaving five dead and 10 injured. As the Porayar fire service station is less than 1 km from the TNSTC depot, a team was able to arrive in minutes. Collector C Suresh Kumar carried out a preliminary inquiry, while the Porayar police are investigating.It was the second tragedy involving the transport department in two months.

TRICHY: Eight employees — seven drivers and a conductor— of the Tamil Nadu State Transport Corporation (TNSTC) who were sleeping in the Porayar depot of the corporation in Nagapattinam were crushed to death as the ceiling of the pre-Independence-era building came crashing on them in the early hours of Friday. Three others sustained injuries in the tragedy which hit the unsuspecting employees about an hour before they were to begin their work.The incident happened around 3.30am when 11drivers and conductors were sleeping on the first floor of the twostorey building. Eyewitnesses said the ceiling came down with a defeaning crash on the sleeping drivers identified as Muniyappan, Chandrasekar, Prabakaran, Manivannan, Dhanapal, Anbarasan and Balu. Conductor Ramalingam also died of injuries at the spot. Three other TNSTC employees identified as Venkatesan, Senthil and Premkumar were rescued by the Tharangambadi fire service station personnel and sent to the Karaikal GH for treatment. Their condition was stated to be stable.Among the drivers were two brothers, Prabakaran, 45, and Balu, 38, of Kalahasthinapuram village near Sembanarkoil town in Nagapattinam. "The victims were sleeping as their duty chart was to start by 4.30 am. All the 11 were trapped under the debris. We and fire service personnel were able to rescue only three alive," a witness recalled. As the Porayar fire service station is less than 1 km from the TNSTC depot, a team was able to arrive in minutes. Collector C Suresh Kumar carried out a preliminary inquiry, while the Porayar police are investigating.It was the second tragedy involving the transport department in two months. On September 7, the roof of a bus terminal near Somanur in rural Coimbatore collapsed leaving five dead and 10 injured. Transport corporation sources said that of the five TNSTC depots in Nagapattinam district, the one at Porayar, with 36 services a day and around 120 employees, was the smallest. Despite being a crucial depot and operating buses to Mayiladuthurai, Sirkazhi, Karaikal and Nagapattinam towns, it had been functioning from the 74-year old British-era building.Chief minister Edappadi K Palaniswami announced Rs 7.5 lakh each to the families of the victims and Rs 1.5 lakh and Rs 50,000 from the Chief Minister's Public Relief Fund for families of the seriously injured and survivors with mild injuries . Barring The CM in a press release said a family member of each of the deceased would be given employment in the transport department based on their qualification.

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