Building collapse kills four in India's Mumbai, scores trapped
- September 27, 2013, 6:16 pm
- World News
- 92 Views
MUMBAI, Sept 27 (APP/Reuters) - A five-storey apartment block
collapsed on Friday in the Indian financial centre of Mumbai,
killing at least four people and trapping scores in the latest
accident to underscore shoddy building standards in Asia's
third-largest economy.
The building collapsed at about 5:45 a.m. (0015 GMT) and
more than 110 people were still trapped by early afternoon, said
Ram Barot, a official of the Municipal Corporation of Greater
Mumbai. The corporation's employees were housed in the building.
A neighbour in the next block said she heard a loud cracking
sound as the building caved in.
"As dust settled, I realised BMC building was gone," the
neighbour, Catherine James, told Reuters.
Rescue workers used six cranes to remove debris and they
pulled dozens of people from the ruins. The building was
believed to have been about 35 years old and home to about 20
families.
"Five members from my family were trapped inside. So far,
two have been rescued. I am praying to God others will also come
alive," said Preeti Pawar, who was standing among crowds of
relatives and onlookers outside the collapsed block.
The cause of the collapse was not known.
Mumbai mayor Sunil Prabhu said the block was not on an
official list of dilapidated buildings.
In April, a building collapse killed 72 people in Thane,
just outside Mumbai. Officials later said the structure had been
built using poor materials and did not have proper approvals.
A shortage of cheap homes has led to a rise in illegal
construction by developers who use substandard materials and
shoddy methods and then offer rock-bottom rents to low-paid
workers.
A sharp rise in property prices in densely populated Mumbai
over the past five years has put affordable housing out of reach
of tens of thousands of people, many of them migrants who move
to the city for work.
"Again and again, the same kind of tragedies are striking
but the government is not learning anything," said Vinod Tawde,
a politician from the main opposition Bharatiya Janata Party.
"The government should evacuate all people staying in
dangerous buildings."
Onlookers cheered and clapped as emergency workers rescued
residents. Others climbed onto walls to get a better look at the
collapsed block, which is close to docks in southern Mumbai.
