13-year-old girl killed as second-floor balcony of a 37-year-old building crashes in Mumbra

Among those rescued was 13-year-old Aasma Kadar Sheikh, a resident of Flat No 102 on the first floor. She had sustained severe injuries and was rushed to Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Hospital in Kalwa, where doctors declared her dead on arrival

THANE: A 13-year-old girl was killed after a portion of a residential building’s balcony collapsed in Mumbra on Monday evening, which led to a rescue operation that pulled six people from the debris and forced the evacuation of the entire building.

13-year-old girl killed as second-floor balcony of a 37-year-old building crashes in Mumbra

The incident occurred around 7pm at the 37-year-old ground-plus-four-storey Faiyaz Building near Janta Bakery on Mumbra Dargah Road. According to the Thane Municipal Corporation’s (TMC) Regional Disaster Management Cell (RDMC), the second-floor balcony gave way and crashed onto the first-floor balcony, trapping six people beneath the debris.

The RDMC said it received a call about the collapse at around 7.15pm, following which teams from the fire brigade, disaster management cell and other emergency agencies rushed to the spot and launched rescue operations.

Among those rescued was 13-year-old Aasma Kadar Sheikh, a resident of Flat No 102 on the first floor. She had sustained severe injuries and was rushed to Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Hospital in Kalwa, where doctors declared her dead on arrival.

Rescue teams from the RDMC, the Fire Brigade and other agencies extricated all six people trapped under the collapsed balcony.

Following the incident, Thane Deputy Mayor Krishna Patil, Opposition Leader Shanu Pathan, and officials from the police, TMC and the Public Works Department (PWD) visited the site to inspect the damage and review the rescue and evacuation efforts.

Yasin Tadvi, in-charge of the RDMC, said, “The girl was rescued from under the debris and rushed immediately to Kalwa Hospital for treatment but was declared dead by the doctors before admission. The building was 37 years old and had been classified as a C2-category structure. It has 30 flats, of which only 15 to 20 were occupied. We have evacuated the entire building and shifted around 70 to 80 residents to a nearby TMC school as a temporary safety measure.”

The civic authorities evacuated the building as a precaution amid concerns over its structural stability. Around 70 to 80 residents have been temporarily accommodated at a nearby TMC school while officials assess the condition of the structure.