Mumbai Building Collapse Kills 13, Dozens May Be Trapped [Video]

Mumbai, India — A building collapsed in Mumbai on Friday morning, killing at least 13 people and injuring dozens more. Rescuers worked through the day to free more people from the rubble.

Sitaram Junte, head of the city government, stated that rescue workers recovered 52 people, some dead, from the building by Friday evening.

The five-story residential building housed 22 families before the collapse, reports the Wall Street Journal. Mumbai’s mayor, Sunil Prabhu stated that rescue operations continued into the night to search for survivors.

Building collapses are common in India, especially during or right after the monsoon season. The incidents are often blamed on substandard materials and poor workmanship. Structures are often built without correct supervision or licenses.

At least 11 people were killed last month when two apartment buildings collapsed in the northwestern state of Gujarat. Seventeen people died in another collapse in south India in July.

The worst case this year was in Thane, near Mumbai, when 74 people, including 18 children, died when an illegally constructed residential building collapsed. CNN notes that the Mumbai building collapse was an old construction and a notice was issued in April about major structural problems.

Spokesman Vijay Khabale Patil stated that the building underwent renovations and residents were informed of the situation. Housing rights groups say that many old buildings in Mumbai are rundown and neglected, while newer ones are poorly constructed. Residents still live in them, because they don’t have another choice. Demand for housing in the city far outweighs supply.

The housing groups say about 65 percent of Mumbai’s residents live in slums. India’s neighbor Bangladesh has similar issues. About 1,100 people died in April when a factory complex collapsed in the country. The incident was one of the country’s worst industrial accidents.

Officials aren’t sure how many people are still trapped inside the collapsed Mumbai residential building.

[Image via Wikimedia Commons]