Bhiwandi building collapse: Nine killed; occupants to be shifted to transit camps

Thane: Nine persons, including four children and three women, were killed and 10 others injured when a residential building collapsed in the powerloom town of Bhiwandi in Thane on Sunday morning amid heavy rains, police said. [caption id=“attachment_2926068” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Representational image. Reuters[/caption] The two-storey structure, housing seven to eight families at Gaibi Nagar under Shanti Nagar police station limits in the town, crashed at around 9.30 am, Bhiwandi tehsildar Vaishali Lambate said. Among the deceased were a woman and her four sons. Maharashtra Minister Eknath Shinde has asked civic authorities to immediately shift the occupants of Bhiwandi’s “most dangerous” buildings to transit camps. Shinde, who is Thane’s Guardian Minister, visited the site of the building collapse and also met the injured at the hospital. “I have directed the civic authorities to immediately shift the occupants of the most dangerous buildings in Bhiwandi to safer places and transit camps,” Shinde told reporters. “I spoke (Maharashtra) Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis for the need to give compensation to the families of the deceased and the injured,” said the PWD Minister. Initially, five persons had died in the incident, but the toll rose after more bodies were pulled out from the debris of the collapsed building. An emergency meeting was convened by Thane Guardian Minister Eknath Shinde at Bhiwandi Nizampur Municipal Corporation office in view of the incident. District Collector Mahendra Kalyankar and Municipal Commissioner E Ravindran were present at the meeting. The collector had earlier rushed to the site to supervise the relief and rescue operation which was hampered by the heavy rains that lashed the district today. Eight of the deceased were identified as - Shahjahan Khurshid Aalam Ansari (42), her four sons Muddashir Khurshid Aalam Ansari (20), Saif Khurshid Aalam Ansari (17), Khalid Khurshid Aalam Ansari (15) and Shakib Khurshid Aalam Ansari (11), and Aayesha Mobin Ansari (38), Suphiya Shahnavaz Shah (19) and Yehem Ejaz Shah (10). One of the deceased is yet to be identified. Nine of the injured were rushed to Thane Civil Hospital where they were being treated for their injuries, the tehsildar said, adding that one person has been admitted to a hospital in Bhiwandi. It was yet to be ascertained whether the structure was in the list of dangerous buildings, sources said. Following the heavy rainfall since early this morning, many low-lying areas were waterlogged in Thane city and surrounding areas. Thane Municipal Commissioner Sanjeev Jaiswal, after visiting the disaster control cell, issued a warning to residents of the city not to step out of their houses unless it was absolutely essential.