Teenage brothers killed in roof collapse in Tiruvannamalai

Two brothers were killed after the roof of a dilapidated house collapsed on them at Elangadu village near Vandavasi town in Tiruvannamalai district on Friday (February 13, 2026) morning.

The deceased, M. Abinesh (17) and his brother M. Mukesh (15), were residents of Vallur village and studying in Classes 11 and 9 respectively at the Government Boys Higher Secondary School in Vandavasi.

According to the police, the brothers had been staying at their grandmother K. Ponnammal’s (65) house in Elangadu village, as it was closer to their school.

The police said Ponnammal had planned to reconstruct another house she owned in the village. On Friday, around 8 a.m., the two brothers, along with their uncle M. Seetharaman (38) and his son S. Sriram (8), went to the dilapidated structure to demolish it.

While Seetharaman was attempting to remove portions of the roof, it suddenly gave way and collapsed on the boys who were inside the house at the time. Abinesh and Mukesh died on the spot, while Sriram sustained minor injuries.

Residents in the area rushed to the spot and pulled the victims out of the debris. On receiving information, the Ponnur police and firefighters from Vandavasi arrived at the scene and shifted the bodies to the Government Taluk Hospital in Vandavasi for postmortem.

A case has been registered and further investigation is under way.