Chennai: Bodies of two person were removed from the 60-ft trench on Frida by rescue personnel. The bodies were brought after about 100 hours of operation in a 60-foot-deep trench, dug to construct a building, in Velacheri.
Police said that both the bodies were in a decomposed state. The family of one of the victims, Naresh(21), a staff of the fuel station adjacent to the trench confirmed the identity. The other person was identified as Jeyaseelan. The wife of Jayaseelan who is pregnant was waiting at the trench for the last five days.
A trench about 60 feet deep was dug for the construction site near the petrol station located near the Chennai-Velacheri five-furlong road. 6 people got trapped in this sinkhole due to a flood caused by heavy rain. After getting the information, the fire brigade and rescue team rushed to the spot and rescued some people safely. However, Naresh, a petrol station employee, and Jayaseelan, a construction engineer, got trapped in the trench, and rescue work was carried out.
Chennai Corporation Commissioner Radhakrishnan who supervised rescue works promised that strict action would be taken against the construction company for negligence.
Companies including NLC, Chennai Metro Rail, NDRF, personnel from the Chennai Fire & Rescue Department, and L&T worked jointly in the rescue operation. During the process, a sudden landslide occurred in the ditch which further delayed the rescue process, according to officials.
Earlier, JMH Aassan Maulaana, the Congress MLA from Velachery, Chennai was lambasted and chased away by angry residents on Friday over his insensitive remarks which he made earlier amidst the floods in his constituency.
The angry Velachery residents in Chennai gheraoed MLA Aassan for not being there for them during the flood crisis and he was finally made to leave the spot following his remark that “this is the maximum we can do, nothing more than this”.