The incident took place at approximately 4.30 pm at Sainik Nagar when the brick wall on the upper side of the house collapsed on the single-storied chawl located on the lower level. The wall collapse has been attributed to soil erosion which may have been worsened by the mild tremors that were felt in parts of Thane and Mulund on Tuesday.
The deceased have been identified as Raj Patel, Rima Patel, Rima Patel, Shamtidevi Umeshprasad Yadav, Seema and Madhuri.
Five-year-old Neha Patel and her father Rakesh were the only survivors, while the rest of her family died in the mishap. Neha had just stepped out of her house to play while Rakesh was at work. Rescue operations have been hampered by the lack of access to the area due to narrow paths and hilly terrains.
According to authorities, the injured victims will receive an aid of Rs 25,000 while the families of the deceased will receive Rs one lakh from the state government.
Today's mishap comes barely two days after a similar building collapse in Kalwa on Tuesday, in which ten people were killed.
Sainik Nagar was originally a small bungalow settlement set up by ex-servicemen on the foothills of Kausa. Barring a handful of structures constructed by ex-servicemen, rest of the 50,000 odd structures are illegal and have been constructed by flouting all existing civic laws.
Photograph: Deepak Kurkunde