NEW DELHI – At least ten people were killed and up to 35 were feared trapped after a three-storey residential building collapsed before dawn on Monday in western India.
The accident happened in Bhiwandi city, close to Mumbai, occurred around 3:40am, country’s media reported while quoting local authorities as saying.
Emergency workers had arrived at the scene, the official said, including a team of 30 rescuers from the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF).
NDRF director general Satya Narayan Pradhan tweeted that teams armed with specialised equipment and sniffer dogs were trying to rescue some “20-25 feared trapped”.
Images broadcast on the NDRF’s official Twitter page showed emergency workers combing through concrete and brick rubble with electrical wires hanging over their heads.
The cause of the accident was not immediately clear, but building collapses are common during India’s June-September monsoon, with old and rickety structures buckling after days of non-stop rain.
