People gathering in front of the building that was damaged following the collapse of a retaining wall on the back portion of the building, located at Garodi near the Kankanady Police Station in Mangaluru on Wednesday (July 1).
| Photo Credit: H.S. MANJUNATH
A part of the tile roof first fell on the feet of Najeeb’s younger son. Soon after, another portion of the tile roof fell near his head, prompting Mr. Najeeb, seated on a cot in the bedroom, to pull his son towards him. Mr. Najeeb recalled the moments in the early hours of Wednesday (July 1) when a retaining wall collapsed on the building which comprised his house and three others at Garodi in Kankanady Police Station limits.Mr. Najeeb said the incident occurred at around 4.30 a.m when it was raining heavily outside. “Just after the fall, I came out of the bedroom along with my wife and son to the verandah and switched on the lights. I woke up my three children and we all rushed out of the house,” he added.He then banged on the doors of his neighbour Jayaram, a cab driver, who rushed out along with his wife Geetha and son Tarun. They banged on the doors of another neighbour Balakrishna, who is differently-abled, and his wife Shantha. However, the coupledid not show any response; they were stuck under the debris. Another neighbour, Lalbabu Chaurasia, who takes up carpentering work on contract, also rushed out along with his wife Indu, while his four daughters got stuck under debris.“We ran to the nearby Kankanady police station (50 m away), and personnel rushed to the spot, while calling the firemen and disaster response force personnel for the rescue operation,” Mr. Najeeb said.Two hours into the rescue operation, the personnel rescued Mr. Chaurasia’s two older daughters Alka, 14 and Anushka, 11. However, his two younger daughters Anamika, 8, and Tanu alias Pari, 3, died.Shantha and her husband were rescued, but Shantha was declared dead by doctors at a private hospital, where her husband is undergoing treatment.Community shockedThe incident shocked residents and also those who had earlier stayed in the houses. Jagadish, who five months ago vacated the house where Mr. Najeeb was staying at the time of the incident, expressed shock: “I stayed for a long time in this house. The retaining wall was constructed 12 years ago and it has sustained several heavy rains. It was shocking to see it collapsing this morning.”Ms. Geetha, Shantha’s friend, was in tears seeing the damaged portion of the building where Shantha stayed. “She was close to me. I also had a good rapport with Mr. Chaurasia’s wife and children,” she said.Joint Secretary of Capitanio Group of Institutions Sister Prasilla Menezes came to the spot along with teachers of Capitanio School, where Anamika was a class 3 student. “She was a brilliant and well-behaved child,” Sister Menezes said. Teachers and staff of the play-home in Garodi, where Tanu studied, also visited the spot and expressed their grief. Published - July 01, 2026 07:25 pm IST
