Khar tree collapse: Teen girl dies after a week, friend critical after surgeries

Aarika Shrivastava, 15, died a week after trees collapsed on an autorickshaw in Khar, while another victim remains critical in hospital.

A week after two trees collapsed onto an autorickshaw carrying three girls in Mumbai's Khar, 15-year-old Aarika Shrivastava died on Sunday morning, while another victim remains critical after undergoing multiple surgeries, officials and family members said.

A week after the Bandra tree collapse accident, 15-year-old Aarika Shrivastava succumbed to severe head injuries at a Mumbai hospital.

What started as a Mother’s Day shopping outing for siblings Aarika (15) and Manasvi (19) Shrivastava, along with their family friend Harshita Kumar (21), ended in tragedy after a Gulmohar and a Kailaspati tree crashed onto their moving autorickshaw around 6.08 pm last Sunday.

Aarika, a Class 10 student at Narayana Institute, had suffered head injuries in the accident. Doctors at P. D. Hinduja Hospital said that she died while being treated on Sunday at 6.05 am.

Aspiring to become an engineer, Aarika had been enrolled in an integrated JEE preparation programme since the age of 13, her family members said.

Manasvi, a first-year MBBS student at MGM Medical College in Navi Mumbai, escaped with minor injuries. However, Harshita sustained severe injuries and remains critical.

The family members said that the trio had gathered around 3 pm and stepped out around 5.30 pm.

Doctors at Hinduja Hospital said Aarika and Harshita suffered severe head trauma, skull fractures and blood clots in the brain. Both underwent emergency surgeries late Sunday night and were placed on ventilator support in the intensive care unit.

Doctors, according to the family, had earlier suspected on Thursday that Aarika was brain dead.

Harshita’s father, Harish Kumar, 52, said, “You are walking on a road, and suddenly a tree falls on you and marks your end. How is that fair? How can there be no accountability?”

Kumar said Aarika dreamt of working at NASA, while Harshita, a final-year BSc finance student from BSE Institute, wanted to build her own company. “Before they could even see the world, the world came crashing down on them,” he said.

According to the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation, the trees located within the premises of Bluestone Properties Pvt Ltd had become unstable after debris was allegedly dumped around their bases during construction. Civic officials said the pressure caused the trees to tilt dangerously towards the road before they collapsed onto the passing vehicle.

Senior officials from the H-West ward said the developers had not allowed civic teams to visit the site.

The BMC’s horticulture department later wrote to the Khar police seeking strict action against the developer, citing violations under Sections 8 and 21 of The Maharashtra (Urban Areas) Protection and Preservation of Trees Act, 1975. The civic body alleged that the developer had failed to take adequate precautions to protect the trees on the premises.

Police subsequently booked the developer under Sections 125(b) and 281 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita for negligent acts endangering human life and causing grievous injuries. Investigators are probing whether negligence in maintaining the trees and the plot led to the accident.

“We have issued a stop-work notice to the developer and barred all construction activity at the project site,” an official from the Slum Rehabilitation Authority told HT.

Family members alleged that despite assurances, no representative from the developer had contacted them or offered financial assistance. Kumar said his family had already spent nearly ₹15 lakh on treatment, while Aarika’s family had incurred medical expenses exceeding ₹9 lakh by Thursday.

In a statement issued on Sunday, Bluestone Properties Pvt Ltd said it was “profoundly grieved” by the incident and extended condolences to Aarika Shrivastava’s family. The developer said it was cooperating with authorities and had shared all relevant records for an “independent and transparent technical assessment”. The statement added that preliminary observations pointed to “concealed internal decay within the tree, including severe termite infestation, despite no visible external signs of instability”. The company also maintained that the project was being executed in compliance with statutory norms and safety protocols.