At least 22 people died and many others were injured after a five-storey residential building collapsed in South Mumbai’s Bhendi Bazar area on Thursday. The police believe 20 others are feared trapped, NDTV reported.
An officer said the exact count of the residents of the building was unknown. “We sent fire brigade personnel to the site to rescue those trapped,” said an unidentified official of the Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai. “Our disaster management cell received a call at 8.40 am about the collapse.”
Ambulances, fire trucks and National Disaster Response Force personnel have also been deployed. It is not known yet whether the building was on the civic body’s list of dangerous structures. However, the police suspect that the heavy rain in the city weakened the building.
Here is what has happened through the day:
8.15 pm: Mahindra Group Chairman Anand Mahindra says construction companies should take more responsibility and conduct pre-monsoon surveys to ensure that such incidents do not happen every monsoon.
8.05 pm: The Samajwadi Party has blamed the Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority and the Saifee Burhani Upliftment Trust, which was supposed to redevelop structure, which is over a century old.
“An inquiry should be conducted by a sitting High Court judge and criminal cases should be filed against officials of the two agencies,” Corporator Rais Shaikh told PTI. “Immediate arrests should be made.”
7.45 pm: The toll in the building collapse rises to 22.
5.42 pm: Prime Minister Narendra Modi says the building collapse was “saddening”. “My condolences to the families of those who lost their lives and prayers with the injured.”
5.25 pm: Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis announces ex-gratia of Rs 5 lakh each for the kin of those who died in the Bhendi Bazaar building collapse.
5.10 pm: The toll in the building collapse rises to 19.
4.55 pm: Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis is at the site of the building collapse. “Action will be taken in case any negligence is found,” he told reporters.
4.40 pm: The toll in the building collapse rises to 15.
3.31 pm: A fire broke out at the collapse spot. It was brought under control.
3.21 pm: The number of people injured has risen to 34, including six firefighters.
2.35 pm: Twenty-nine people rescued so far. 10 to 15 people feared trapped in debris, ANI reported.
2.33 pm: BMC Mayor Vishwanath Mahadeshwar held the Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority responsible for the collapse.
2. 08 pm: Toll rises 12.
1.40 pm: Toll rises to 11.
1.14 pm: Minister Subhash Desai, who visited the site, said the state housing department will conduct an inquiry into the collapse. “Right now, the focus will be on rescuing those still trapped,” he said.
12.58 pm: Maharashtra government announces investigation into the incident, reports Hindustan Times.
12.44 pm: Twenty-one people have been rescued from the debris.
12.34 pm: Toll rises to 10. Fifteen injured, reports ANI.
12.21 pm: Over thirty people are still feared to be trapped.
12.18 pm: Buildings in the vicinity has been vacated.
12.15 pm: Mayor Vishwanath Mahadeshwar reaches the site.
11.57 am: 125 fire brigade officials and 90 National Disaster Response Force personnel monitoring the rescue operations.
11.56 am: The injured include two fire brigade personnel.
11.43 am: Seven dead, 15 injured
11.25 am: The building had 12 rooms and six godowns on the ground floor
11.16 am: 4 dead, 13 injured
11.14 am: A 43-member team is conducting the rescue operations.
10:51 am: Three people have been killed in the collapse, reports ANI.
10:45 am: A Mumbai Police official said the area near the building has been cordoned off. The fire department personnel and medical staff have reached the spot.
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