17-year-old dies in building collapse in Bangalore

In a shocking case of apparent gross negligence, a 17-year-old girl, Kavitha, and an unidentified male in his 40s, were killed when a suspected gas leak from LPG cylinders stored under the staircase next to a sari dyeing chemical unit in a residential building exploded in Sumanahalli on Wednesday afternoon.

The explosion caused a huge blaze which led to another explosion about 30 minutes later to cause the residential building to collapse.

Kavitha was a II PU student in Vokkaligara Sangha College in Kamakshipalya. The dead man (yet to be identified) was probably an employee of the sari dyeing chemical unit, the police said even as they were trying to establish his antecedents. His body was unidentifiable as it was blown to smithereens in one of the two explosions. His body was found under the debris late Wednesday night.

The negligence that led to the death of two lay in allowing LPG cylinders from the adjacent Sri Lakshmi Venkateshwara Marriage and Convention Hall to be stored close to the chemical unit which was located on the ground floor of the ill-fated four-storied residential block. It collapsed due to two explosions: first one causing a blaze; the second one, the collapse.

The fatalities could have been much higher but for the fact that most of the residential building, built on a 20x30 site, was occupied by working bachelors who were away at work when the tragedy struck.

Ten, including five fire personnel who had rushed to the site to douse the blaze, sustained severe injuries when debris from the collapsing residential building rained on them. The building was  attached to the Sri Lakshmi Venkateshwara Marriage and Convention Hall at Sumanahalli junction on Magadi Main Road near Beggar’s colony in Kamakshipalya police station limits.

At least four fire personnel were buried under the debris and were rescued by their colleagues. Kamakshipalya police said the collapsed building belonged to the owner of the marriage hall Srinivasa Naidu. He is absconding after the incident.

The locals said Naidu had rented out the ground floor to a sari dying chemical unit and the upper floors to working bachelors who, fortunately, were away at work when the tragedy struck. Naidu had built three single bedroom flats on each of four-storied building, while there was a family which had occupied the first floor. Once again, fortunately, the family was not in town.

The fire broke after the explosion at 1.30pm due to a suspected leak from LPG cylinders. At 1.55pm, another blast – suspected to be caused by the chemicals stored in the sari dying unit – caused the building to collapse.

DCP (West) SN Siddaramappa said the deceased 17-year-old girl Kavitha’s father Nagaraj worked as a contract labourer in the area. Her family was staying in a small shed adjacent to the residential building which collapsed on it. She was alone in the house at the time. Her body was retrieved only at 6.10pm.

The police suspect that she might have died due to asphyxiation after being buried under tonnes of debris. Her body was shifted to Victoria Hospital for a post-mortem. Most of the injuries that occurred were due to debris burying the people and bricks flying like shrapnel due to the two explosions.

BG Chengappa, Director, Karnataka Fire and Emergency Services said five of his subordinates -- Raghavendra, Rangaswamy (both fire station officers), Anandaiah, Nagesh Babu and Govindappa (firemen) – had sustained injuries, though all of them are stated to be “out of danger”. Govindappa has received serious injuries and sustained fractures on both his legs.

The police commissioner BG Jyothiprakash Mirji said a woman identified as Sharadamma was rushed to Victoria Hospital with the help of public soon after the incident. Four others – three-year-old Chinmayi, Veerappa, Ramanjinappa and Kantharaj were injured and admitted to Sri Lakshmi Multi-speciality Hospital at Sunkadakatte. The injured fire personnel too were admitted to the same hospital.

Police said they were verifying the documents pertaining to the building to assess the extent of violation of law by the building owner, Naidu.

DCP SN Siddaramappa said they came to know that Srinivasa Naidu is the owner of the marriage hall and the residential building, but they have yet to identify the owner of the dyeing company, which did not bear a name.

He said a case has been registered against them under provisions of section 337 (Causing hurt by act endangering life or personal safety of others), section 338 (Causing grievous hurt by act endangering life or personal safety of others), 304-A (Causing death by negligence) of the Indian Penal Code and also under the provision of The Explosive Substances Act.