Kerala: 13-year-old dies, grandfather injured in Ernakulam house collapse

In a tragic incident, a 13-year-old boy died after a two-storey building collapsed in the Keezhillam area of Kerala’s Ernakulam district, police said. The deceased identified as Harinarayanan was asleep when the house collapsed on him. His grandfather Narayanan Namboothiri has been admitted to the hospital after he was critically injured.

There were 7 members of the family present inside the house when this mishap happened. But nobody was injured apart from these two. The boy was rushed to the Perumbavoor Taluk hospital, but he could not be saved. Narayanan Namboothiri who sustained head injuries is now in the ICU.

Station House Officer (SHO) of the Kuruppumpady Police Station said, “We have not yet identified the reason of the building collapse. But it might be because of continuous rain in that particular area which affected the walls of the house which was built by using bricks.” Harinarayanan and his grandfather were the only people were at the ground floor of the two-story building at the time of this mishap. They were rescued with the help of Fire and Rescue services. We have used three earth movers for that. The neighbours rescued Harinarayanan’s sister.”

Ernakulam District Collector Dr Renu Raj sought a report from Perumbavoor Tahsildar. “After hearing a loud noise, the boy’s mother and sister went upstairs to check what had happened. He had gone into his grandfather’s room by then and was sitting in front of a table and seemed to be trapped between a cement board,” said Ajayakumar NP, chief of Rayamangalam Panchayat. The sister miraculously escaped as they went upstairs. And another sister, his father and uncle, who all stayed at home, was abroad, were abroad.”

The boy, an eighth-standard student was rushed to a nearby hospital with serious injuries where he passed away. “Apart from the two floors, there were roof panels installed above the roof. To ensure the building did not collapse further, a JCB was brought in to support the remaining structure. Then a part of the room where they were open was cut open. The grandfather was then moved outside after cutting,” a firefighting officer said.

Two firefighting units from Perumbavor Fire Station and one from Muvatupuza Fire Station were rushed to the site and District Fire Officer K Harikumar led the rescue operation. The body of the deceased was handed over to relatives after an autopsy and the body was cremated on Thursday evening. Kurupamabadi Police is probing the matter. (ANI)

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