Death toll in bldg collapse rises to 61

The death toll in Friday’s Dockyard Road building collapse increased to 61 with one of the city’s longest rescue operations getting over on Sunday morning.

Taking cognisance of the huge loss of human lives, the civic body on Sunday suspended seven officials from the planning and design and markets departments. It ordered an inquiry against 11 others, many of whom are retired.

“All staffers who dealt with the building issue between 2011 and 2013 will be probed. The suspension of the assistant municipal commissioner for markets CD Chore is also under consideration. As of now, more documents have been sought to ascertain if he deserves suspension,” a senior civic official said, requesting anonymity.

 Meanwhile, the rescue operation went on for over 48 hours beginning 6am on Friday.

The dead include 31 men, of which six could not be unidentified. The rest of the victims were women. Seventeen men and and 14 women were among the injured while eight persons miraculously escaped. “The accident spot was cleared of debris and we have stationed two fire engines and four JCBs and pocklains at the spot,” a fire official said.

All the debris, which equalled 540 loaded dumpers, was dumped at two plots along the Eastern Freeway in the vicinity of the collapse site.

“We have installed CCTV cameras and deployed men along with cops to keep a tab on the debris as it has the belongings of the victims,” an official attached to ‘E’ ward said.
A help desk was created at the crash site to co-ordinate with survivors. The corporation has kept the belongings of the victims at the Babu Genu market.

Valuables recovered from the debris have been handed over to the Sewri police station from where survivors can claim them.   Meanwhile, the civic body has made available stop-gap food and shelter arrangements for the survivors at the Tadwadi and Patanwala municipal schools.

“We will shift them to civic residential buildings in Ghatkopar as a permanent arrangement,” the official said.