CLEAN-UP ACT: Workers rummaging through the debris at Wesley Bagh after three persons were killed on Saturday. — PHOTO: P.V. Sivakumar.

HYDERABAD: Three members of a family were killed when a portion of an old building collapsed and the debris fell on the adjacent two-room tenement in Kandaswamy lane near Sultan Bazar on Saturday morning. Three more persons injured in the house collapse are being treated at the Osmania General Hospital.

The victims, all hailing from Vilasagar village in Karimnagar district, had come to the twin cities to attend a wedding and had slept in a relative's house, situated adjacent to a building abandoned some two decades ago. A portion of the abandoned building that used to once house a Christian hostel, soaked in the incessant rain, collapsed in the early hours on Saturday. The debris fell on the small dwelling with asbestos roof where the Karimnagar family was fast asleep.

Three injured

Police identified the victims as T. Anandam (55), his daughter K. Manjula (26) and his son-in-law K. Joel Dayanand (28). The injured were Anandam's wife Amruthamma (50), her son Mohan and cousin Devaiah.

"We woke up with a jolt as there was a huge noise around 3.30 a.m. We rushed out and clawed through the rubble and managed to pull out others," Abraham Lincoln, a relative of the victims said.

Amruthamma sustained severe back injuries while Devaiah and Mohan suffered minor injuries.

Ex gratia sought

Former Union Minister and senior BJP leader Bandaru Dattatreya demanded that the Government announce an ex gratia of Rs. 5 lakhs to the families of victims who died in the wall collapse .

Talking to presspersons, he blamed the district administration and the Municipal Corporation of Hyderabad for delaying the demolition of the abandoned hostel building despite being aware of its precarious nature.

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