THANE: Seven children and three others were killed and 11, including a four-year-old boy, rescued after a three-storeyed building collapsed in Maharashtra’s Bhiwandi town on Monday, police said.
Around 10 persons are still feared trapped after the building caved in at 3.40 am, police said, adding search operations are underway.
#WATCH Maharashtra: Rescue operation by NDRF (National Disaster Response Force) underway at the site of building collapse in Bhiwandi, Thane.
— ANI (@ANI) September 21, 2020
Eight people have lost their lives in the incident which took place earlier today. pic.twitter.com/dFvXwhHPH3
Personnel of the Thane Disaster Response Force (TDRF) were seen pulling out the boy from the debris and feeding him water.
Bhiwandi is a powerloom town around 10 km from Thane.
A civic official told PTI that the building, located at Narpoli’s Patel Compound near Dhamankar Naka, collapsed while the residents were asleep.
A team of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) rushed to the spot.
NDRF DG S N Pradhan said the teams were using a canine squad to search persons trapped in the debris.
A portion of the building collapsed and many occupants were trapped in the debris of the collapsed building, a Thane Municipal Corporation official said.
The building was not in the list of dilapidated structures of the Bhiwandi-Nizampur Municipal Corporation, he said.
An eyewitness said local residents rushed to the spot immediately after the collapse and helped pull out some persons from the debris.
The power supply to the locality was snapped as a precautionary measure, the official said, adding the injured have been admitted to local hospitals.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Narendra Modi too expressed anguish at the loss of lives and said that all possible assistance was being provided.
Saddened by the building collapse in Bhiwandi, Maharashtra. Condolences to the bereaved families. Praying for a quick recovery of those injured. Rescue operations are underway and all possible assistance is being provided to the affected.
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) September 21, 2020
“Saddened by the building collapse in Bhiwandi, Maharashtra. Condolences to the bereaved families. Praying for a quick recovery of those injured. Rescue operations are underway and all possible assistance is being provided to the affected,” Modi said.