After a ground-plus-two godown collapsed in Maharashtra's Thane district, around 14 people have been rescued and 15 are still feared to be trapped. The incident has so far claimed five lives, according to reports.
After being trapped for over 18 hours under the debris, a man was rescued from the Bhiwandi building collapse site on Sunday by the disaster response forces. The man, identified as Sunil Pisa, was rescued by the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and the Target Disaster Response Force (TDRF) at around 8 am and rushed to the IGM Hospital in Bhiwandi.
Fifteen people were still feared trapped, Thane Municipal Corporation's Regional Disaster Management Cell (RDMC) chief Avinash Sawant said. Twelve people were injured after the structure collapsed like a pack of cards at 1.45 pm on Saturday at Wardhaman Compound in Valpada area, officials said.
The building had godowns on the ground and first floors, while four families occupied the upper floor. Some workers were present on the ground floor when the structure collapsed, Sawant said. Teams of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and the State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) were carrying out the search and rescue operation, he added.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde termed the incident as "most unfortunate" and visited the collapse site as well as the injured persons undergoing treatment in Bhiwandi's IGM Hospital late Saturday night.
The building was about 10 years old and possibly could not take the load of a mobile tower recently installed on top of it, according to a civic official. CM Shinde told reporters that he has instructed Thane Collector Ashok Shingare and other authorities to immediately carry out a survey of the structures declared 'most dangerous' in the district.
He also directed the officials to immediately shift the people occupying such buildings to safer places as the monsoon was just around the corner. Shinde said cluster development was the only solution to the problems arising on account of the dangerous buildings.
(With inputs from PTI)
