Mumbai building collapse: One arrested as death toll crosses 60, several still feared trapped

Mumbai, Sep 29: The death toll in the Mazgaon building collapse has risen to 61 while 32 others are injured. As rescuers race against time to find survivors under the debris, the real picture of the tragedy is unfolding as families cope to struggle with the loss. The human tragedy of the collapse is unbearable for many.

Among those who have died is 30-year-old journalist Yogesh Anant Pawar, who worked for the Marathi daily Sakal. Originally from Jaitapur in Ratnagiri district, Yogesh had come to Mumbai to work as a journalist. While Yogesh's father's body was pulled out earlier, his body was pulled out this afternoon. Santosh Kamble, Yogesh's brother-in-law told reporters, "He used to live with his father here. His mother, his brothers and his sister have arrived from the village."

As precious hours pass away, chances of finding survivors are fading. Miraculously, even after 24 hours, some survivors were pulled out by the National Disaster Response Force or NDRF. Sachidanand Gawde, Deputy Commandant of the NDRF, said, "We are using victim locating cameras and we have used it locate him and find his exact position. We have used an airlifting bag to lift the slab he is trapped under."

The question now on everyone's mind is, could this tragedy have been averted? The building is owned by the BrihanMumbai Municipal Corporation or BMC itself and was listed for major repairs by its own officers. Unfortunately, these repairs were never carried out. The Mayor of Mumbai has promised an inquiry into the delay of repairs and said that anyone found responsible will be dealt with in the strictest manner.

A decorator who had a godown on the ground floor has now been arrested and sent to police custody till Tuesday for alleged illegal alterations. He has been booked for culpable homicide not amounting to murder.

But that is hardly any compensation for those who have lost everything they had. This is the seventh building to have collapsed in the last six months in Mumbai and Thane and hundreds of lives have been lost. But the most important question is, with nearly 950 very dangerous buildings in Mumbai alone, how many more collapses will it take for authorities to act?

Earlier:

13 killed, 29 injured in Mumbai building collapse

Mumbai, Sep 28: Thirteen people including a girl-child were crushed to death and 29 sustained grievous injuries when a four-storey building housing civic employees in south Mumbai came crashing down on a rain soaked Friday.

Fire brigade officials who where engaged in clearing the debris of the 32-year-old building located along Dockyard Road, in the old Mazagon locality, fear the possibility of people trapped underneath as there were 21 families staying in the building and several families are still missing.

Apart from the injured who have been admitted to various hospitals, 20 people escaped unhurt.

Rescue operations were launched immediately at around 6 am when the first distress call was relayed to the fire brigade. Search lights and ambulances underneath heavy rain and dark skies were put into action along with dozen JCBs, cranes, mechanical diggers and bulldozers.

Apart from the Mumbai fire brigade, teams from Thane fire brigade, National Disaster Response Force were also summoned.

A team of over 100 rescuers from various agencies were still cutting through slabs late in the evening. Traffic on the congested Dockyard Road was diverted to ease the flow of emergency vehicles.

The BrihanMumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) in an official communique stated that the structure housed 28 rooms on four floors of which 21 were occupied by civic employees and their families. Labourers who were carrying out repairs in the building were housed in a godown on the ground floor.

Civic engineers, during the audit of the building, had classified the structure as “extremely dilapidated” and orders were issued to vacate the building for restructuring. However, there was a delay in shifting the occupants.

Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan, along with Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar, summoned an emergency meeting of the concerned departments and ordered “top priority” to the rescue operations.