Mumbai rains: The city is likely to receive more rainfall over the next two days
Highlights
- Two men drowned inside a car after it got stuck in waterlogged underpass
- Water entered their car's engine and its doors got jammed
- Heavy rain in Mumbai and surrounding areas has killed nineteen people
Two friends drowned inside a car in a north Mumbai suburb after it got stuck in an underpass last night as the city and its adjoining areas was ravaged by a record deluge. Irfan Khan, 37, and Gulshad Shaikh, 38, were returning home late on Monday night when they failed to gauge the depth of the water in a heavily waterlogged underpass in Malad and drove in.
The Scorpio car they were in got stuck. As water entered the engine, the automatic doors got jammed and the men could not get out.
The families have demanded an explanation from the civic authorities and the police.
Nineteen other people have also died as heavy rain pounded Mumbai and its surrounding areas overnight, flooding the airport and paralysing local trains. Last night, a Spicejet flight skidded while landing, forcing a shutdown on the airport's main runway.
This was the heaviest rainfall since 2005 in a 24-hour period. The weather office has extended the rain alert till Friday. Over the next 24 hours, heavy to very heavy rainfall is expected in the city.
The Maharashtra government has declared a holiday in Mumbai and adjoining Thane.
"Due to heavy rain forecast in Mumbai even today by IMD, People are advised to stay indoors unless there is any emergency," read a tweet from the office of Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis.
While the state government kept only the emergency services open, private firms asked employees to work from home.
The Navy, meanwhile, has deployed teams to help stranded people in Mumbai and its adjoining areas.