Brother trapped as roof collapses

The roof of a house collapsed and crashed into the first floor, trapping a man who was working on renovating the property inside.

Black dust could be seen billowing from the semi-detached building in Old Hill, and neighbours said that they heard loud thuds and felt vibrations as the roof collapsed. The owner of the property in Station Road, Rooproor Rooplal, said that he and his brother had been working on the building when they heard a crumbling sound and it suddenly “fell in”.

Mr Rooplal, aged 53, added: “It was a very old roof, the tiles are falling off, and there’s rainwater coming in. My brother was inside in the loft, and there was a crumbling noise, and suddenly it just fell in.

“He was trapped against the side of the wall. He was there for about 10 or 15 minutes, and the firemen had to come and get him out. 

“We were really shocked. Now we’re just waiting for the roofer to come and tell us when we can start work on it. The rest of the inside isn’t too badly damaged, so hopefully it will be OK. My brother was lucky.”

The gable end of the house collapsed at 4pm on Saturday, causing the roof to crash into the first floor of the two-storey building. 

Watch Commander at Cradley Heath fire station Simon Towers said: “They were extremely lucky that they weren’t injured.”

Mr Rooplal and his brother were treated at the scene by paramedics for minor injuries but neither required hospital treatment.

Cheryl Crozier, who lives opposite the Station Road property, said the house had been empty for six years before being bought at auction. She added that work started last week. “I heard a loud thud, and the house shook,” she said.

“We could see black dust coming from across the road, and that’s when I looked out the window and saw that the roof had fallen down.” 

David Hubball, who lives next door in the adjoining house, said: “It was like a shudder and a loud bang, it was like a bomb or something. I just stepped outside into a cloud of dust.”