A Mumbai building collapse that killed 66 people is being blamed on the five-story buildings interior decorator.
According to the city’s mayor the decorator chose to remove a central wall from a customers unit. The wall in question featured supporting beams and was removed without permission.
Officials on Sunday morning put the total death count at 66 people. Rescue workers fear that they may have pulled out the last survivors from the unfortunate accident.
The Mumbai building collapse lead to the arrest of decorator Askhok Kumar Mehta. The designer was charged with culpable homicide not amounting to murder. That charge is the US equivalent of unlawful negligent killing.
Mehta’s own business was located on the ground floor of the collapsed building which is owned by Mumbai’s city council.
Living in the building were clerical employees of the municipal council and their families.
Last year the council conducted a structural inspection of the building and found it to be in need of major repairs. In April city officials approved funds to be used for the buildings repairs. Repair efforts had not begun before the collapse.
The Mumbai building collapse occured in India’s financial hub at approximately 6am on Friday.
Rescue workers from the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) have managed to pull thirty-three survivors from the collapsed building.
This is not the first building to fall down in Mumbai, over the years several others have also fallen. In April an illegal multistory building in Thane also collapsed with devastating results.
Officials in Mumbai have long claimed that many of the areas buildings are neglected and in danger of collapse. Approximately 65 percent of the city’s citizens live in slums which feature sub-par buildings made with unauthorized materials and a lack of building permit approvals.
