Sydney Indian restaurant crumbles into pieces

Sydney, Nov 28 (UNI) The Indian Chilli restaurant in Surry Hills, the inner-city suburb, was demolished by the authorities this afternoon.

It is being blamed that due to the next door construction work, large cracks appeared on the walls of the restaurant overnight. For the safety of workers and neighbours, Sydney City Council called in specialist contractors for the building's demolition.

Restaurant owner Nasir Uddin claimed that he was uninsured.

Besides, he accused the cracking on a community centre which is being built beside his restaurant.

''Everybody is sad, my livelihood is there. It's ruined my life, my everything is there, all my money, everything is there,'' the Daily Telegraph quoted the owner as saying.

The reason for the building's collapse has not been ascertained yet but it is being suspected that heavy overnight rain may have weakened the structure, causing large cracks in it.

Reacting to the incident, Sydney City Council city projects director Michael Leyland said, ''It's fairly rare. The structure itself is very, very fragile. It's moved quite a bit in a very short space of time.'' A full investigation would begin soon in the case, he added.

UNI