Portions of century old building collapse, no casualties

A day after a wall collapse in Tiruvallur District claimed 11 lives, portions of a century old building owned by the Church of South India crumbled at Santhome here today but there was no loss of life, police said.

"Portions of the church building collapsed and the remaining portion of the building on the front side will be demolished tonight to ensure safety," a police official said.

The church authorities had already directed the users of the building to vacate it as the structure had become weak. No one was in the vicinity when portions of the building collapsed, police added.
 

Chennai Corporation authorities said they had already directed owners of dilapidated structures to demolish them as such buildings posed a threat to public safety.

The authorties indicated that they would initiate appropriate action to prevent collapse of old buildings which might harm innocent residents or passers-by.

The incident has occurred days after an under-construction building collapsed near Porur killing 61 people on June 28.