Bhiwandi: 9 die, 22 injured as 35-yr-old building collapses

Nine persons were killed and more than 22 injured when a dilapidated building collapsed in Bhiwandi, about 40 km from Mumbai, on Sunday. The deceased include four children and three women.

The 35-year-old, two-storey Kabir building at Gaibi Nagar collapsed around 9.15 am. The building had been declared "dangerous" and civic authorities had served notices twice for evacuation. There were 22 families in the building and 12 had already evacuated.

According to PTI, the building is owned by one Meharunnisa Kadir Hasan.

Though a National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) team rushed to the spot, heavy rains hampered rescue efforts. Locals rescued a few residents and rushed them to the Indira Gandhi Hospital.

Five of the dead belonged to a family on the second floor. They have been identified as Shahjahaan Ansari (42), her sons Mudasir Ansari (20), Saif Ansari (17), Khalid Ansari (15) and Saqeeb Ansari (11) and Ayesha Ansari (38).

Head of the family, Khursheed Ansari (45), survived with minor injuries. Two from another family on the same floor – Rohem Ejaz Shah (10) and Sophiya Shah (19) – died while being taken to the hospital.

The Bhiwandi Nizampura fire brigade pressed eight teams for rescue operations. "But heavy rains and crowd near the site hit rescue operations," said an official. Some locals said rescue teams arrived late, and, by the time they arrived, they had pulled out many injured from the debris.

"Though we had served notices twice for evacuation, many residents were adamant and continued to live in it," said E Ravindran, civic chief, Bhiwandi Nizampura Municipal Corporation.

"We will hold a meeting of ward officials and would instruct them to convince residents to vacate such risky structures," he said.

The rescue operation was conducted under the supervision of Dr. Mahendra Kalyankar, Thane district collector. "We informed the NDRF and measures would be taken to curb such incidents as living in risky structures is dangerous. The injured have been admitted to various hospitals in the area," said Kalyankar.