Rescue workers, including those from the National Disaster National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), searched for more than a dozen people, who are still feared trapped in a 117-year-old, five-storey building that collapsed in Mumbai on Thursday morning, two days after torrential rain lashed the city. 32 people have died and 14, including four firemen, are injured and are admitted in hospital. 10 people are still feared to be trapped inside the building.
"There was a massive bang. We couldn't see anything due to the dust and smoke. Once the dust settled, we realised it was a building collapse," said Amina Sheikh a resident of the Bhendi Bazaar area, a famous and busy marketplace in one of Mumbai's most historic districts.
Police suspect that heavy rain in Mumbai could have weakened the building that collapsed in Bhendi Bazaar
Rescuers said the area's narrow roads were making it difficult to bring in excavators.
The police had yet to determine what caused the collapse. Municipal officials said they received a call at 8:40 in the morning that the dilapidated Arsiwala building on Maulana Shaukat Ali Road had crashed. Nine families lived in crammed rooms in the higher floors of the building, which also housed six warehouses on the ground floor, officials said.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra fadnavis visited the collapse site earlier in the day. He also announced a compensation of Rs 50,000 to the relatives of those who lost their lives.
Only a few on this year's list of unsafe buildings in Mumbai have been evacuated or demolished, and more than 500 of them are still occupied, news agency Reuters quoted an official of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) as saying.
In July, 17 people were killed when a four-storey building crumbled during renovations.
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