18 dead, 14 injured as four-storeyed residential building collapses in Mumbai

Mumbai, June 28, 2022

At least 18 people died and 14 others suffered injuries when a four-storeyed residential building collapsed in Mumbai late on Monday night, the BMC Disaster Control said on Tuesday.

According to officials, the entire wing of the ground-plus-three floor Naik Nagar Building in Kurla East suburb of northeast Mumbai crashed minutes before midnight, trapping many persons living there.

By this evening, the rescuers had extricated 23 persons trapped under the debris, including 10 dead and another 13 injured (all adult males).

The injured were rushed to Rajawadi Hospital in Ghatkopar and LTMG Hospital in Sion.

As work continued amid intermittent showers to clear the mound of rubble, eight more bodies were recovered and several more injured survivors who were shifted to the hospitals.

Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray announced an ex-gratia of Rs 500,000 to the next-of-kin of each deceased and directed that all the injured persons should be given treatment at government expense.

Industry Minister Subhash Desai, top officials of the BrihanMumbai Municipal Corporation and police officials visited the site to guide and supervise the rescue operations.

The rescue teams of State Disaster Management Authority, Mumbai Fire Brigade , police besides local volunteers, who joined the rescue efforts there have pointed out a potential risk to the adjoining second wing of the same building which could also collapse anytime.

The deceased who have been identified so far are: Ajay M. Pasnor, 28, Ajinkya Gaikwad, 34, Kumar Prajapati, 20, Sikandar Rajbhor, 21, Anoop Rajbhor, 18, Arvind R. Bharti, 19, Anil Yadav, 21, Shyam Prajapati, 18, and two others unidentified men.

Among the 32 injured, including a woman, 10 are admitted to hospital and the remaining have been discharged after treatment.

Search efforts continued to extricate others feared buried under the debris.

IANS