MUMBAI – The death toll in a building collapse in Ghatkopar, a suburb area of Mumbai, on Wednesday reached 17 after rescuers extricated five more bodies from the rubble.
A rescue operation is underway after the four-storey resident building collapsed on Tuesday in Siddhi-Sai Cooperative Housing Society.
“Our rescue team along with the fire brigade and NDRF jawans extricated 28 people from the debris out which 17 people have been declared dead while 11 injured have been admitted in the nearby Shantiniketan, and the Rajawadi hospitals,” The Hindu News quoted an official of the disaster management unit of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC).
The search and rescue operations are still underway.
According to residents of the housing society, which is owned by a local Shiv Sena leader, the pillars of the building got weakened after renovation was started on the first floor of the building.
Till 9 pm on Tuesday, rescue teams had extricated 23 people trapped under the debris, of whom 12 were pronounced dead while 11 injured were shifted to different hospitals.
The BMC has provided temporary accommodation to the victims in nearby schools. The government also ensured the aggrieved people of quick relief and rehabilitation.