One person
was killed and dozens feared trapped after a five-storey apartment building
collapsed late Monday in western India, officials said, with a local legislator
warning that the number could be as high as 200.
The structure comprised 47
flats, police in the town of Mahad — 120 kilometres (75 miles) south of Mumbai
— said in a statement.
The cause of the accident was
not immediately clear but building collapses are common during India’s
June-September monsoon, with old and rickety structures buckling under the
weight of non-stop rain.
Three rescue teams, armed with
specialised equipment and sniffer dogs, had been deployed to the scene of the
accident, a statement from India’s National Disaster Response Force (NDRF)
said, with Home Minister Amit Shah tweeting that he was “praying for everyone’s
safety”.
NDRF spokesman Sachidanand
Gawde told reporters that emergency workers had retrieved the body of one
victim, while Mahad police said at least 70 people were believed to be trapped
under rubble.
“Fifteen injured people have
been rescued and taken to hospital,” the police said in a statement.
Local residents and
police combed through tin sheets, metal rods and other wreckage in a desperate
search for survivors as ambulances ferried victims to nearby hospitals.
Mahad legislator Bharat
Gogawale told the local TV9 Marathi channel that early estimates seemed to
suggest that “over 200 people are stuck inside”.
“Our primary goal is to rescue
as many people as possible who are trapped under the debris”.
“We cannot yet ascertain the
reason for the collapse”, he added.
–
‘Scary situation’ –
Local politician Manik Motiram
Jagtap told the channel that the structure was 10 years old and built on “weak”
foundations.
“It fell like a house of
cards,” Jagtap said.
“It is a scary situation.”
As night fell, emergency
workers used cranes to try and remove the rubble as relatives anxiously waited
for news of their loved ones.
The office of Uddhav
Thackeray, chief minister of Maharashtra state, where Mahad is located, said on
Twitter that he had been in touch with local representatives in the area.
“He has assured them that all
possible support will be extended for speedy rescue and relief works,” the
tweet said.
The monsoon plays a vital role
in boosting agricultural harvests across South Asia. But it also causes
widespread death and destruction, unleashing floods, triggering building
collapses and inundating low-lying villages.
The death toll from
monsoon-related disasters this year has topped 1,200, including more than 800
lives lost in India alone.
The accident brings yet more
bad news for Maharashtra, which has already been hit hard by the coronavirus
crisis, with the state accounting for over a fifth of India’s more than three
million infections.
The pandemic has also cast a
shadow on the ongoing Ganesha Chaturthi festival, with Hindu devotees ordered
to sharply scale down celebrations and rituals honouring the much-loved
elephant god in a bid to limit the spread of the virus.
AFP
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