Under-construction double-storey house collapses onto neighbouring home in Palakkad

A double-storeyed house under construction in Vallikkode Palakkaparambu near Muttikulangara in Kerala's Palakkad district collapsed onto an adjacent tiled house on Monday afternoon, completely destroying both the buildings. In what can only be described as a providential escape, the residents and workers at the site managed to flee to safety seconds before the crash. No injuries have been reported.

The disaster unfolded around 2.30 pm when the concrete framework of the under-construction house, belonging to TM Arumughan, suddenly gave way and crashed directly onto the tiled roof of his neighbour, PA Arumughan. S Sumith, 23, the grandson of PA Arumughan, was inside the tiled house at the time but managed to run outside just in time. Three labourers working on the under-construction building—KR Shobhana, K Prashanth, and V Shailaja—also miraculously escaped unharmed seconds before the structure crumbled into a heap of concrete and debris.

According to local residents, warning signs of the structural failure had appeared in the morning. Around 6 am, the ground adjacent to the under-construction house suddenly caved in, sinking by about six feet. Locals noted that the soil in this area retains extremely high levels of moisture, which is suspected to have compromised the foundation and triggered the land sinkage, eventually leading to the catastrophic collapse of the building hours later.