Sonepur, Sept. 9: A couple died when their house at Jamalipali in Sonepur district collapsed this morning. The incident comes a day after a similar building collapse claimed four lives in Puri.

Nata Naik, 40, and his wife Surubali Naik, 38, were asleep when the accident took place.

Local villagers rushed to the spot after hearing the sound of the house collapsing. But the couple were already dead, said sources, adding that no one else was present in the house at that time.

Villagers said continuous rain over the past few days had weakened the wall of the kachha house.

Police has seized the bodies of the deceased and sent them for post-mortem to the Sub-divisional Hospital at Birmaharajpur. Inspector-in-charge of Birmaharajpur police station Narendra Sarangi said the house was in a very precarious state.

“The house was very weak and it had become more susceptible to collapse following regular rain over the past few days. We have registered a case of unnatural death and sent the bodies for post-mortem,” he said.

The deceased couple is survived by a married daughter and two minor sons. The boys were away when the incident took place.

Local residents have demanded a compensation of at least one lakh each for the affected family. “The state government had announced an ex-gratia of Rs 1 lakh each to the families of the deceased in a similar incident in Puri yesterday,” said a villager.