Chennai, Jul 19 (IANS): Three persons were killed and three others injured after a shop at Car street in Anthiyur in Erode district collapsed at 12.50 a.m. on Monday.

All six had come to sell their millets and other products at the weekly shandy which was closed down for the past two months due to Covid-19 pandemic. The shandy was supposed to close on Monday at 6 a.m. and the victims and the injured were waiting for the it to open and were sleeping outside an electric shop when the building collapsed.

M. Sinthan, 55, from Thattakarai, S. Mahadevan, 55, and T. Chinnapayian, 35, from Sengulam died in the building collapse. K. Rajesh, 30, and K. Mahendran, 17, both from Chinna Sengulam and S. Sivamoorthy, 45, from Kongadai suffered minor injuries and were treated at Government Hospital, Anthiyur.

The bodies of the dead persons were shifted to the Government Hospital, Anthiyur for Postmortem.

Police said that the weekly markets that function from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. were closed down for the past two months following Covid-19 pandemic. The markets were to reopen on Monday at 6 a.m. and farmers from various villages around Anthiyur frequent the market to sell their products.

The farmers generally arrive on Sunday night with their produce and sleep anywhere and return back to their native villages on Monday.