Eight employees of Tamil Nadu State Transport Corporation (TNSTC) were crushed to death when the roof of a building at the Porayar depot collapsed early on Friday.
The victims were bus crew who were scheduled to operate early morning services, police sources said.
Three other injured workers were rushed to the Government Hospital in Karaikal. The victims were asleep when the roof collapsed.
The building constructed about 60 years ago had developed cracks and was in need of repairs, the sources said.
All the bodies have been retrieved from the debris by Fire and Rescue Service.
Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami condoled the deaths and announced a solatium of ₹ 7.5 lakh to the families of each of those who lost their lives in the incident.
Considering this a special case, a member of the families of each of the victims, would be given a job in the Transport Department depending on their qualifications, the Chief Minister said in a statement.
(The article was first published in The Hindu)