In second such collapse in one week, eight persons, including a female child, three women and two boys, were killed and at least six others injured when a three storey dilapidated building caved in proverbial cards at Bhiwandi in the neighbouring Thane district.
The toll in the three storey building collapse rose to eight by the evening, as the local fire brigade and National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) personnel four more bodies from under the debris of the structure located at the Hanuman Tekdi in the powerloom town. The rescuers brought one elderly person alive from under the debris. He was rushed in an injured condition to the Indira Gandhi Municipal Hospital.
The Bhinwandi-Nizampur Municipal Corporation had declared the building “dangerous” and had served it an eviction notice. As many of the residents refused to shift out, the authorities had cut off electricity and water supply on Friday. Resident deputy collector, Vandana Suryavanshi identified two of the persons killed in the mishap as building’s owner Sajjanlal Mahadev Gupta (60) and wife Satyawati Sajjan Gupta (55). “We received the information at 7 am. Our team with fire engines rushed to the scene. We rescued 25-30 trapped residents. Some were rescued through lift and stairs. By evening, we had found eight bodies.