Two killed in house slab collapse in Bhandup

wo persons were killed after a portion of a makeshift attic in a ground-plus-one house collapsed in Khindipada of Bhandup West on Sunday. The deceased have been identified as Rajkumar Sahay, 21, and Ramavtar Yadav (Lallan Kumar), 20

Mumbai: Two persons were killed after a portion of a makeshift attic in a ground-plus-one house collapsed in Khindipada of Bhandup West on Sunday.

Mumbai, India - February, 12, 2023: Two persons have died when a part of the house collapsed while the house work was going on in khindopada Bhandup , in Mumbai, India, on,Sunday, February, 12, 2023. ( Praful Gangurde / HT Photo)

The deceased have been identified as Rajkumar Sahay, 21, and Ramavtar Yadav (Lallan Kumar), 20. The duo were involved in constructing a mezzanine in the residential structure used as a warehouse on Dankan Line Road.

According to on ground inquiries conducted by the police, the incident was believed to have occurred between 1am to 7am. However, the accident was reported at 9.42am. Building and factories department, and fire brigade officials and the local police reached the site of the mishap and inspected the house.

Sahay and Lallan were rushed by the fire brigade to the Mulund General Hospital, where they were declared dead before admission.

“The house was built in a crude form with cement, brick, iron and sheet. At the back, the upper part was covered with sheets and the roof of the house was also made of sheets. The owner of the house was using it as a commercial warehouse and erected iron pillars for the attic and placed 2,000 bricks on it. As the attic could not bear the weight of the bricks, it collapsed,” Ajitkumar Ambi, assistant commissioner, S ward, said.

Ambi said that the house owner himself had built the attic, however, he could not recall when it was done. “The owner of the house was responsible for the accident,” Ambi added.

Meanwhile, the Bhandup police in the evening registered an FIR against the house owner and his tenant, as well as the contractor in charge of the repair works that was underway for causing death due to negligence under the relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code.

“The tenant had hired the contractor to build a mezzanine in the residential structure and the two deceased were labourers who would work and sleep in the same space at night. The incident happened when the pillars of the mezzanine gave away, causing the structure to collapse and leading to the deaths,” Nitin Unhavane, senior police inspector, said.

Sahay was a native of Sultanpur in Uttar Pradesh, while inquiries into Lallan’s background were underway.