4-year-old who died after hollow block fell on her was sleeping on bed after lunch

BENGALURU: A four-year-old girl died in front of her mother when hollow blocks fell on her from a nearby underconstruction building while she was sleeping after having lunch at home in the evening at Chinnappanahalli in the city. The mother, who was sitting next to her with two other children for lunch, narrowly escaped death.

The deceased has been identified as Manushree, the daughter of Mamatha and Srishail, natives of Sindagi in Vijayapura district. Mamatha is a nursing mother who had just given birth a month ago and had come to her sister Madhu’s house in Chinnappanahalli.

Manushree had returned home around 2.30 pm after school as usual. She had lunch with her cousins Shekhar and Sriyan, ate roti in the hall of the house, then she fell asleep scrolling a phone, when at least ten to twelve hollow bricks fell from the top of a four-story building that was being constructed next to the house on to the tinsheet house where Manushree was.

As a result, the sheet broke and fell on Manushree and Manushree’s mother Mamata’s brothers, Shekhar and Sriyan, who were inside the house. Manushree suffered serious head injuries and died on the spot.

The construction site, where a four-storey building is being built, had no safety measures in place and the owner, Shrinivasulu, has been accused of negligence. Locals claim that similar incidents had occurred previously, but no action was taken.

Manushree’s mother Mamatha has suffered serious head injury and her other children, Shekhar and Shreyan, are receiving treatment at a private hospital. The police have registered a case against the building owner and are investigating the incident.

Mallamma, a relative of Mamatha, said, ‘The girl slept on the bed scrolling a mobile phone after having lunch with her mother and brothers. Hollow bricks fell from the top of a four-storey under-construction building. We tried to wake her up by sprinkling water, but she did not. The other two children were also injured in the incident, and one among them needs back surgery but is out of danger”.