Mumbai building collapse is 'anguishing', reacts PM Narendra Modi

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday expressed his condolences to the families of those who lost their lives after a four-storey residential building collapsed in south Mumbai's congested Dongri area earlier in the day. Modi said the incident is “anguishing”.

“Collapse of a building in Mumbai’s Dongri is anguishing. My condolences to the families of those who lost their lives. I hope the injured recover soon. Maharashtra Government, NDRF and local authorities are working on rescue operations & assisting those in need: PM @narendramodi,” the PMO tweeted.

Collapse of a building in Mumbai’s Dongri is anguishing. My condolences to the families of those who lost their lives. I hope the injured recover soon. Maharashtra Government, NDRF and local authorities are working on rescue operations & assisting those in need: PM @narendramodi

— PMO India (@PMOIndia) July 16, 2019

The death count rose to three after a four-storey residential building collapsed in south Mumbai's congested Dongri area Tuesday, according to the Mumbai Police. About 40 to 50 people are feared trapped under the debris, civic officials said. State housing minister Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil, however, said 12 people were killed after the 'Kesarbaug building, located in a bustling narrow lane in Tandel Street of Dongri area of south Mumbai, crashed.

A BMC official said seven persons were injured in the collapse. Mumbai mayor Vishwanath Mahadeshwar said he has asked the municipal commissioner to launch a probe in the incident.

TV channels showed dramatic visuals of a child, wrapped in a cloth bundle, being carried out of the debris by rescue workers. The child is alive, officials said.

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has opened a shelter at Imamwada Municipal Secondary Girls' School after the building collapse, a civic official said.

Scores of locals joined in the effort, forming a human chain to help in removing the debris brick by brick and picking up slabs of concrete to locate those buried.

Meanwhile, Vinod Ghosalkar, chief of the repair board of MHADA, said the building did not belong to the housing body as mentioned by a few locals and a legislator. 

Some part of the building was left standing after the collapse.

Fire brigade, Mumbai Police and civic officials rushed to the site but the constricted lanes made it difficult to access the area, reduced to a mass of rubble, twisted concrete and broken wires.

Ambulances could not reach the site and had to be parked around 50 metres away. 

Earlier, at least 15 people, mostly labourers hailing from West Bengal and Bihar, were killed when a boundary wall of a posh building collapsed in Pune.

Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis ordered the Pune Collector to conduct a detailed probe into the incident.

"Extremely saddened to know about loss of lives in the Pune wall collapse incident," said Fadnavis, announcing a compensation of Rs 500,000 to the kin of each deceased and Rs 25,000 for each injured in the tragedy.