2014 Chennai building collapse (original) (raw)

On 28 June 2014, an eleven-storey apartment block collapsed while under construction at Moulivakkam in the suburb of Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India. The cause was determined to be a lightning strike to exposed metal at the top, which was conducted through the building and to ground via reinforcement bars embedded in the concrete, which led to failure of support columns and subsequent collapse of the structure. The collapse killed 61 people, mostly construction workers who were trapped in the debris.