Tamil Nadu to pay Rs.5 lakh to building collapse victims kin

Chennai, March 30 (IANS) Tamil Nadu Chief Minister O. Panneerselvam on Monday announced a solatium of Rs.5 lakh each to the families of the five persons who were killed on Sunday when a building under construction collapsed at Tiruvarur.

Making a statement in the assembly, Panneerselvam said a solatium of Rs.5 lakh each will be given to the families of the five dead construction workers and Rs.50,000 each to the 16 persons who were injured in the accident.

He said the a guest house was being built on behalf of the Central Public Works Department (CPWD) inside the Central University complex at Tiruvarur.

Tiruvarur is around 320 km from here.

He said the construction contract was given to the Hyderabad based D.E.C. Infrastructure and Projects (India) Pvt. Ltd.

Four persons, including the manager and the engineer of the construction company, have been arrested, Panneerselvam said.

With regard to the accident involving Vellore district collector's car in which a two-wheeler rider died and another was seriously injured, Panneerselvam said the police are investigating the case.

He said action would be taken after the investigation.

Panneerselvam said it was the driver of district collector who was driving the car at the time of the accident.

He said DMK members protested on the roads, demanding the arrest of the car driver.