Five persons, including three women were killed and 11 injured, two seriously, when the roof of the bus stand in Somanur collapsed on Thursday afternoon.

While four died on the spot, another one died at the Government Hospital here. Six of the injured have been admitted to the Government Hospital, two of them in serious condition. Five have been admitted to a private hospital.

The dead have been identified as Shivakumar, a bus driver, Dharani, Eshwari and Thulasi. Another man, aged about 65 years, is yet to be identified, police said.

The roof of the bus sheds, where buses are parked, suddenly started collapsing and those waiting for the buses ran and those who could not move were caught under the debris.

Police, fire service and rescue personnel, with the help of public pulled out those trapped under the debris.
With nine ambulances in operation, the injured were immediately shifted to the hospitals.

District Collector T.N. Hariharan visited the victims at the hospital, while Local Administration Minister S.P. Velumani is expected to arrive at the hospital late in the evening.

DMK MLA N. Karthik visited the spot and enquired about the incident, as public complained about poor construction materials, which was soaked and gave way due to heavy rains.