Mumbai Building Crash Kills Six, Caught On Camera [Video]


A bystander has managed to capture a striking video of a building crash in Mumbai. According to the Khaleej Times, the crash of this seven story structure resulted in the deaths of at least six people. The incident happened near the SantaCruz suburb of Mumbai city at around noon. While initially The Indian Express said that there were no casualties, as the building was thought to be uninhabited, it was revealed later that there had been at least two families living inside it at the time of the crash. In fact, in the video, the crying child says in Hindi that his father was inside the building when it collapsed. It is unclear at this stage if his family survived the crash.

The BMC (Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation) Disaster Cell has confirmed that rescue operations are underway at the crash site and that three people were pulled out of the debris alive by firemen. They however fear that several people might be still trapped under the rubble. The six people who died include three women. An official has confirmed that two teams from India’s National Disaster Response Force, amounting to a total of 65 personnel are working to rescue any trapped survivors and to clear the debris. They would continue to work until they are sure all the trapped people are recovered.

According to authorities, the dilapidated building was deemed unsafe and was given a demolition notice by the Municipal Corporation back in 2007. Since then, most families staying there had found alternative accommodation. Two families however chose not to heed the notice and stayed put. They had also challenged the demolition order in court. Authorities feel that the members of these families might be the ones that have been killed in the crash

Mumbai has been in the news of late for frequent building collapses. Back in September 2013, as many as 60 people were killed when another structure collapsed in the outskirts of the city. In April, another cash had killed 74 people. In both the cases, shoddy construction work and poor implementation of building codes along with corruption were blamed. Add to it the fact that the extremely overpopulated and expensive city faces a housing crunch with almost 60 percent of the 21 million people in the city living in slums. Owing to the extremely high cost of owning a home, people are often forced to stay back in unsafe buildings or buy property for a lower price, often in illegal and poorly built structures.

Image Via Sohni Dharti

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