We often report on city residents whose wooden houses have collapsed but we've never seen a cement house falling before. But, that's just what we saw in Ladyville today. 64 year old retired Security Guard Vincent Bahadur and his family were inside their home on Friday night when the structure buckled on its 12 foot stilts and crashed to the ground. When we go there today the aftermath looked like an earthquake had hit. Bahadur told us today how he and his family escaped major injury, or death.
Courtney Weatherburne reporting
These trophies, which are the pride of this Dart playing family, once stood on a pedestal. But now, they lay bent and broken on the living room floor among the rubble.
The rubble that was left after their home collapsed with them in it on Friday night. The cement walls that once sheltered and kept them safe are now cracked and crumbling
And the verandas where Vincent Bahadur used to take his evening smoke caved in and flattened the rear end of this Plymouth Voyager.
Bahadur was left trying to reattach the iron frame that used to be his front door. This family is lucky to be alive - they all could have been crushed inside because the fall happened so sudden.
Vincent Bahadur, Was in house when it collapsed
"Right in the middle of the building I was having dinner and I felt a bog slam come down and I fell on the floor and my sister-in-law was on the chair and my brother was trapped in the room."
Courtney Weatherburne
"What was your immediate reaction when you felt the house falling?"
Vincent Bahadur, Was in house when it collapsed
"When I was on the ground, I got up and took my sister-in-law from underneath the table and I was still frightened and shocked. After the house collapse my nephew and I and another boy slept two nights here."
Courtney Weatherburne
"You all had to stay because you all didn't have anywhere else to go."
Vincent Bahadur, Was in house when it collapsed
"We didn't have anywhere else to go. People were trying to find a house for us when they saw our house. They couldn't find a person who was renting a house."
Until finally, with the help of a friend, they moved into this house one street away.
While they are comfortable in this house, they still need financial assistance from the Landlord.
Vincent Bahadur, Was in house when it collapsed
"We told the landlord that we only want $15,000 for all the things that got damaged, including our vehicle."
They had been renting that house for 3 years. Bahadur told us that the landlord lives in the US and has not mentioned anything about financial compensation. They have written a list of items that were destroyed and have come up with $15,000 as the estimated cost of damages. As for Bahadur's sister in law and brother - they received minor injuries to the face and shoulder and were treated and released from the hospital.
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