The house in Howrah that collapsed on Wednesday. Picture by Gopal Senapati

A 50-year-old man, his wife and their son were injured after a portion of the roof of a dilapidated two-storeyed building collapsed in Salkia, Howrah, on Wednesday morning.

Gobinda and Swapna Ghosh were admitted to Howrah District Hospital. Ganesh Ghosh, 22, was shifted to SSKM Hospital after his condition deteriorated.

Police said the ceiling collapsed around 6am, when the three were asleep. Alerted by their cries, other members of the family and neighbours rescued the trio. Gobinda’s brother Tapan said: “I was sleeping on the ground floor. There was a loud noise followed by cries for help from my brother and sister-in-law. I rushed to the first floor and found them buried under chunks of concrete.”

Ratan, another brother, said: “We knew that the building was in poor condition. But we did not take up repairs as we had signed an agreement with a local promoter nearly five years back, promising to hand over the house to him. He did not execute the agreement.”

Howrah mayor Gopal Mukherjee said the civic body did not have the infrastructure to inspect old houses and take necessary action.

According to a civic official, there are hundreds of houses in Howrah that are over 100 years old.