Three of family killed in Pathankot roof collapse

Three members of a sleeping family of seven were buried to death and four others were injured after the roof of their 4-marla ‘kutcha’ house collapsed on them about

Three members of a sleeping family of seven were buried to death and four others were injured after the roof of their 4-marla ‘kutcha’ house collapsed on them about 3.30am in Sujanpur, around 10km from district headquarters, on Friday. Those dead are Sonu, 40, her daughter Mehak, 13, and her son, Vishal; the injured are Bodh Raj, 65, Guddo, 60, Pinki, 16, and Preeti, 8.

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The family had got approval letter for ₹50,000 grant for the construction of a concrete house under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana recently and construction would have started shortly, Rattan Sharma, husband of local councillor Sukrama Sharma, said. “The foundation of a portion of the house had been dug up and all of them were sleeping in the same room, the roof of which caved in,” said SHO Ashwani Kumar.

Sharma added that neighbours heard a loud noise about 3.30am and found the collapsed house with shrieks of cries from family members buried under the debris. “We cleared the debris to find three bodies, while the injured were rushed to the Pathankot civil hospital, where they are being treated,” he said.

Local Congress leader Viney Mahajan said the family would be helped. “It is unfortunate that the family faced this tragedy of roof collapse of their house, as the municipal council had approved their site plan for construction with government funds.” Doctors said the injured were out of danger. Police have initiated inquest proceedings under Section 174 (police to inquire into suicide, etc) of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC).