Mumbai building crash: 19 dead, 12 wounded

A more than century-old five-storey residential building collapsed today in the congested Bhendi Bazar area of south Mumbai, killing at least 19 people and wounding 12 others, officials said.


They were declared dead at the state-run JJ hospital, where they were taken after being pulled out of the debris, as rescue teams with heavy machinery continued to look for survivors of the crash, a senior police official said.


About 30 others are still feared trapped under the mounds of concrete and twisted iron rods. The process of identifying the bodies is on. At least 12 people injured in the incident were carried out on stretchers and rushed to the JJ Hospital in ambulances that faced difficulty in navigating the narrow streets due to the crowed that has gathered around the place.


The official also said five fire brigade personnel and an NDRF jawan also sustained injuries during the rescue operations. They have also been shifted to the JJ hospital. Fire brigade officials said some nine families lived in the dilapidated Husaini Building.


The building also housed a play school but children had not arrived yet when the tragedy occurred. The building, mostly housing lower-middle class families, was located in the Muslim-dominated Pakmodia Street close to the J J Hospital.


The building, which also had six godowns on the ground floor, crumbled at around 8:30 a.m. It is not clear yet if the heavy rains that inundated Mumbai this week weakened the building.