Bhiwandi building collapse death toll rises to eight

The relief and rescue operation continued through the night on Sunday and NDRF and TDRF on Monday morning called off the rescue operation at about 9.45 am after all the missing were accounted for

The death toll in the building collapse in Maharashtra’s Bhiwandi rose to eight after two more bodies were pulled out from the debris by the teams of the National Disaster Relief Force (NDRF) and the Thane Disaster Relief Force (TDRF) on Monday, officials said.

The relief and rescue operation continued through the night on Sunday and was called off on Monday morning (File Photo)

According to officials, two bodies were pulled out from debris at about 7.30am on Monday. The eight deceased have been identified as Sudhakar Gavai, 34, Pravin Pramod Chaudhary, 22 and Triveni Prasad Yadav (40), Navnath Sawant, 40, Lalita Mahto, 26, and Sona alias Akshita Kori (5), Dinesh Tiwari, 34, and Ashok Kumar Mishra, 32.

The relief and rescue operation continued through the night on Sunday and was called off on Monday morning called around 9.45am after all the missing were accounted for.

One resident, Sunil Pisal, 42, was pulled out alive after 20 hours at 8am on Sunday. Thereafter, five bodies have been pulled out of debris so far.

A 10-year-old ground-plus-three-storey building collapsed in a heap around 1pm on Saturday in Vardhman Compound in Valpada village in rural parts of Bhiwandi in Thane.

22 residents were believed to be trapped in the debris out of which, 10 injured are being treated at Indira Gandhi Memorial Hospital in Bhiwandi.

On Saturday night, Maharashtra chief minister Eknath Shinde visited the IGM hospital after he visited the incident site earlier, where he met with the injured. The CM also announced ₹5 lakh assistance to each of the kin of the deceased.

Meanwhile, police arrested Indrapal Patil, the owner of the building and booked him under various sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), adding that he will be produced before the court on Monday.

“We have arrested owner Indrapal Patil and booked him under sections 304(II) (Culpable homicide not amounting to murder), 337 (Causing hurt by act endangering life or personal safety ) 338 (causing grievous hurt by act endangering human life), 427 (Mischief causing damage) 34 of IPC. The accused will be produced before the court on Monday. Further investigation is on,” Madan Ballal, senior police Inspector at Narpoli police station said.