PONDA: A mother and son escaped with minor injuries when a retaining wall fell on their house, destroying a large portion in Tallem Durgabhat, Ponda, even as panic gripped the area as people from adjoining houses feared the same fate.
Poor planning, construction and execution is said to be the reasons why the 15 metre wall with the height of 3.5 metre collapsed, causing a substantial financial loss in ward number 14 of Ponda Municipal Council.
According to Ponda Fire Station Officer Sushil Morajkar the incident took place late on Saturday evening following which team of fire personnel rushed to the spot and joined the locals, who had already started rescue work including shifting of injured to hospital and clearing of huge debris fallen on house of one Prabhakar Chavan.
According to Chavan, the incident took place around 4 pm when his wife heard some loud noise in kitchen and ran to see her kitchen and other portion of house collapsing. However, she sustained injuries on her leg while running back.
Her son too was injured. Both were discharged from hospital after medical attention.
After the collapse of the wall, panic prevailed at Durgbhat, as locals residing in lower side feared that the remaining wall would fall on their houses, while those who had houses on the upper side felt that the base had been destroyed, making their houses vulnerable.
