MUMBAI: At least 19 people were killed when monsoon rains caused the four-storey building in order to collapse in the Indian megacity of Mumbai, authorities said upon Tuesday (Jun 28).
The structure – situated next to a slum in a central city district – flattened just before midnight on Monday, according to local officials.
14 people had been preserved by Tuesday night but emergency employees retrieved 19 bodies from the rubble.
“Search and save operations are continuing, ” a spokesperson for the National Disaster Response Force informed AFP.
At least six of those murdered were between eighteen and 21 years of age, city authorities mentioned.
Heavy rainfall was hampering functions as rescuers moved concrete slabs plus sifted through mud and rubble looking for survivors.
1 woman, believed to be the sister of one from the victims, was noticed wailing and sobbing as a body was carried into an ambulance.
Monsoon rains from June to September are vital to replenishing rivers and groundwater in India but the deluge also leads to widespread destruction.
Building collapses are common during this period, with older and rickety buildings buckling under times of non-stop rain.
Maharashtra state minister Aaditya Thackeray advised residents to expels other similarly “dilapidated” buildings.
“I pray that people listen to civic authorities plus shift to alternative locations to avoid tragic disasters like this, inch Thackeray said whilst visiting the scene.
The traditional western state of Maharashtra, of which Mumbai may be the capital, was hit badly last year when monsoon-triggered floods plus landslides killed 200 people and pressured a quarter of a mil to evacuate their homes.
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