Mumbai rains: 18 killed, at least 6 injured after compound wall collapsed in Malad East, rescue operations underway

Mumbai: At least 18 people were killed and six others injured after a compound wall collapsed in Malad area, on Tuesday due to heavy rains, National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) officials said. [caption id=“attachment_6916171” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  A collapsed in Malad due to heavy rainfall in Mumbai. Twitter/@ANI[/caption] The incident happened around 2 am when the compound wall in Pimpripada of Malad east area collapsed and people living in shanties adjacent to wall got trapped under the debris. NDRF officials said the 18 deceased were the people living in the slums. “Our team of NDRF along with sniffer dog reached the site of the incident immediately after receiving the information. Besides, a team of fire brigade and local police also reached the spot and took the control of the situation,” a senior NDRF official said. He said the police is investigating the case. “Rescue operations is underway and more details are awaited. The injured are in nearby civic hospital in Jogeshwari and Shatabdi Hospital in Kandivali,” he said. Meanwhile, authorities have declared Tuesday as a public holiday in Mumbai as the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) has forecast heavy rains. “In the wake of the extreme heavy rainfall forecast by the IMD, the Government of Maharashtra has declared a public holiday on 2  July as a precautionary measure for Mumbai city and its citizens,” a civic official said. The Central Railway has also decided to run local trains in limited corridors due to water logging on the railway tracks. “Trains will run in CSMT-Andheri - Goregaon section in harbour line. Vashi to Panvel in harbour line. Thane to Vashi and Panvel in trans harbour line. CSMT to Thane Karjat and Khopoli sections,” Sunil Udasi, the chief spokesperson of the Central Railway, said. He said the Central Railway with help of RPF jawans rescued thousands of passengers stranded in the midnight local trains and served them tea, biscuits and other edible items at stations.

Passengers may please note that following Trains have been short terminated & reversed from stations other than the destination due to water logging at Nallasopara following very heavy rains. Inconvenience is deeply regretted. #WRUpdates pic.twitter.com/vYK05TwIsx

— Western Railway (@WesternRly) July 2, 2019

A senior official of the Western Railway said that its suburban services are running between Churchgate and Virar even if the frequency may be less.   Follow LIVE updates on Mumbai rains here