Bengaluru, 29 April  

Seven people, including two children, were killed and seven others injured when the compound wall of the Bowring and Lady Curzon Hospital in Bengaluru collapsed due to heavy rains here on Wednesday, police said.

When heavy rains, coupled with strong winds and a hailstorm, battered the area, victims taking shelter near a wall were trapped when it suddenly collapsed. Seven people were killed on the spot.

Police and emergency services personnel rushed to the spot with an earthmover to bring out the bodies and the injured from the debris with the help of other citizens.

Learning about the incident, Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah visited the spot along with the Greater Bengaluru Authority Chief Commissioner M Maheshwar Rao and Bengaluru Police Commissioner Seemant Kumar Singh to take stock of the situation.

Siddaramaiah took the GBA officials to task for the tragedy.

Briefing reporters after the spot inspection, the CM said, “Seven people have died. Out of them, two are children. Seven people are injured. All of them are stable. They are all out of danger. I have told the doctors to provide treatment free of cost.”

“Rs 5 lakh solatium will be given to the kin of each deceased. Because, unfortunately, those who died are very poor people — traders, street vendors,” he added. Siddaramaiah said an inquiry will be conducted to find out why the wall collapsed.

“We will conduct an inquiry to see whether the engineers are at fault. If they are found responsible, action will be taken against them immediately,” he said.

According to the CM, there was civil work going on inside the compound wall. The contractor was dumping soil against the compound wall. He said that due to the pressure of soil dumped against it, the wall might have collapsed.

“Prima facie, it appears to have fallen due to that pressure. So I have asked the engineers — the Executive Engineer and Assistant Executive Engineer — whether they had checked if it had become weak or not,” Siddaramaiah said.

No one knew there would be heavy and untimely rains, the CM said, adding that these were pre-monsoon rains.

Deputy Chief Minister and Minister in charge of Bengaluru, DK Shivakumar, who was in Kanakapura in Bengaluru South district, rushed to Bengaluru and visited the spot for inspection. Speaking to reporters, he said some people took shelter against the wall as the rain started, due to which they died.

"I am deeply pained to learn about this incident. Such things should not have happened. Many trees have fallen, and vehicles were damaged. I will direct officials to cut the weak trees because there was a risk of such tragedies happening again during the monsoon".

According to him, four people from Kerala were affected, of whom two were killed in this tragedy. They were working with an organisation to improve a nutritious diet.

"We will conduct the postmortem at the earliest and send the bodies to Kerala," Shivakumar said.

Leader of the Opposition in the Assembly, R Ashoka, said the loss of innocent lives - including children, street vendors and pedestrians who had sought shelter from the rain - is not just a natural calamity or accident; "it is a state-sponsored disaster born out of sheer administrative negligence."

"How many more lives must be sacrificed at the altar of poor infrastructure and civic apathy? While the Congress government indulges in tall claims of 'Brand Bengaluru,' the crumbling walls of a premier government hospital in the heart of the city tell a different, more lethal story. For this Congress Government, it seems the lives of the poor and the common man are disposable," he posted on 'X'.

BJP's State President BY Vijayendra asked the Congress government in Karnataka to take responsibility for the incident, urging them to provide treatment to the injured and compensation to the families of the deceased.