3 of family killed as roof collapses near Ludhiana

Ludhiana Three members of a family were killed after the roof of their house collapsed in Haul village in Khanna near here on Saturday night due to heavy rain. The

Ludhiana Three members of a family were killed after the roof of their house collapsed in Haul village in Khanna near here on Saturday night due to heavy rain. The family — Surjit Singh, 40; his wife Balwinder Kaur, 37; their son Gurpreet Singh, 8, and 10-year-old daughter Simranjit Kaur — were taking their dinner when the mishap took place. Only the daughter survived.

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Villagers said the roof collapsed after lightning struck the house.

District administration officers reached the spot 14 hours after the incident, for which they were chided by the villagers. Gian Singh, brother of Surjit Singh, said his brother was a driver. He had started reconstruction of his house but the work was delayed due to the rain. He had demolished two rooms of the house and was living in one room with his family.

Villagers said they rushed outside when they heard lightning strike and found that the roof of Surjit’s home had collapsed. Lack of electricity in the village and heavy rain slowed down the rescue efforts. The four were rushed to hospital, where the doctors declared three of them dead on arrival. Only Simranjit Kaur survived with minor injuries. The girl told police that after a part of the roof collapsed, they tried to rush out but could not do so as the main door was bolted from inside.

On Sunday, sub-divisional magistrate Sandeep Singh and naib tehsildar Ranjit Singh visited the spot. The officer said they will send a report to the district administration for compensation.