At least seven people have been killed and dozens of others trapped after the collapse of a four-storey residential building in India‘s financial capital, Mumbai, officials and media reports said.
“Seven people have died in the collapse, including two women and a 15-year-old boy. Some of the victims were rushed to the hospital, but succumbed to their injuries,” police officer Sandeep Bagdikar told dpa news agency by phone from the accident site.
Tanaji Kamble, disaster management spokesman, told AFP news agency that 40 others were “under the debris” following the incident on Tuesday in Mumbai’s crowded Dongri area.
Fire official Ashok Talpade said dozens of rescuers were at the site, where they pulled out three people alive and rushed them to a hospital. They included a child who was allowed to go home after being treated, he said.
Talpade said the families had been asked to vacate the dilapidated building some time ago but they continued to live there.
Television images showed people forming a human chain to remove the rubble using their hands.
“The building crashed with a heavy sound and we thought there was an earthquake,” a local resident told the New Delhi Television news channel.
Maharashtra state’s Chief Minister Devendra Fadanavis told reporters that the building was 100 years old and 15 families were living there.
Waris Pathan, an opposition politician, said the building was a death trap, with authorities saying they had no money to rebuild the structure.
Building collapses are common in India during the June-September monsoon season, when heavy rains weaken the foundations of structures that are poorly constructed.
On Sunday, a three-storey building collapsed in a hilly area in the northern Indian town of Solan following heavy rains, killing 14 people.