One feared dead as wall of century-old building collapses in Coimbatore

One man was feared dead and three others wounded when a wall of a century-old building collapsed in Tamil Nadu's Coimbatore district on Thursday.

A portion of the Radhakrishna Mill at Peelamedu area in Coimbatore district collapsed following three days of continuous rain in the city.

Police, fire officials and locals worked together to clear the debris from the area. The injured were taken to a government hospital where they are undergoing treatment.

"Because of the continuous rain during the last three days, the wall of the old Radhakrishna Mill building collapsed. A transformer near the wall burst when the wall fell on it. Four people have been injured in the incident and one person lost his life. Police and fire officials are here and the locals are helping to clear the debris," said a local, Somasundaram.

The collapse of the 30 feet tall wall trapped around 25 bikes parked near it.

Locals contented that they had given a petition to civic authorities about the threat posed by the old wall in case of incessant rains.

"We had given a petition to the officials about the threat of this building collapsing after rain. But the corporation officials did not take any action regarding the complaint. There is another old wall in a nearby area. That too needs to be dismantled; otherwise it might result in a similar accident," said another local, Dorai.

Police have filed an FIR (First Information Report) and begun investigation into the case.