A three-story house in Agra, northern India, collapsed after rats dug its foundations for years.
Heavy rain on the night of April 14 filled the lower part of the house at Kacheri Ghat with water. Sudhir Kumar Ver, the homeowner and eight other family members were quickly evacuated due to concerns the house was no longer safe.
The foundation of the house is completely hollow.
“The foundation of the house is completely hollow,” Ravi Mathur, a local official told The Times of Indian. According to Mr. Ravi, the homeowner tried everything to get rid of the rats but failed. “Most of the debris fell on the open ground, not on other houses,” Mr. Ravi said.
Kacheri Ghat is one of the famous areas in the historic city of Agra infested with rats. These rodents have burrowed under houses, weakening their nails and damaging pipes, roads and other structures.
Agra Mayor Naveen Jain pledged to meet with local officials to find a way to deal with the rat epidemic.
“Although the houses that collapsed are old, it is true that some residential areas in the citadel are ravaged by rats and the foundations of the houses are damaged,” Mr. Naveen stressed.