Mumbai hoarding collapse: 14 killed; traffic jams in Ghatkopar | Latest updates

The death toll in Mumbai hoarding collapse touched 14 on Tuesday, with as many as 89 people rescued from under the rubble in Ghatkopar.

Mumbai hoarding collapse updates: At least 14 people have died and 75 left injured after a massive billboard in Mumbai's Ghatkopar collapsed on Monday evening due to heavy rain and thunderstorms in the city. The National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) conducted rescue operations overnight, with as many as 89 people rescued from under the rubble till now.

Rescue and relief work underway in Mumbai. (PTI) (HT_PRINT)

The hoarding, bigger than an Olympic swimming pool, collapsed on a petrol pump, making drilling through the rubble all the more difficult for excavators.

Mumbai's municipal corporation (BMC) said at least 75 injured people were taken to hospitals following the accident, and 31 were discharged.

Mumbai hoarding collapse: Latest updates

• State Disaster Management Authority, Maharashtra, released an incident sheet regarding the event, noting that the operation is currently ongoing. 89 people so far have been rescued from under the hoarding, with excavation going on to know of more are trapped inside.
• 75 people rescued from the hoarding collapsed were taken to the hospital, out of which 31 have been discharged and treatment is still going on for 44 people. 108 ambulances were on sight, along with NDRF teams, the fire department and Mumbai Police.

• Due to the billboard collapse and rescue operations, traffic same to a standstill in some areas of Ghatkopar. Traffic congestion was witnessed on roads near the petrol pump where the incident took place, with slow vehicle movement observed in surrounding areas.
• After the incident, the BMC said in a statement that the agency owning the billboard did not have a permit from the BMC to put up the hoarding. An FIR against Bhavesh Bhide of Ego Media was registered under multiple sections of the IPC.
• On Tuesday, BJP leader Kirit Somaiya accused Bhavesh Bhide of absconding from Munmbai with his family. Somaiya demanded that Bhide be declared a fugitive in the hoarding collapse case.
• "Bhavesh Bhinde's Ego Media has made over 2 dozen illegal hoardings... I have demanded Maharashtra CM Eknath Shinde & Dy CM Devendra Fadnavis to thoroughly inspect and remove all the illegal hoardings that were put up in 2020, 2021 and 2022 in Mumbai..." Kirti Somaiya said.

• After the billboard collapse incident, the BMC prepared a plan to remove the remaining hoardings on Government Railway Police (GRP) land at Chheda Nagar in the eastern part of Mumbai.
• Maharashtra chief minister Eknath Shinde announced an ex gratia of ₹5 lakh for the families of those who lost their lives in the hoarding collapse. He also assured treatment at government hospitals for all those who were injured.
• Shinde posted on X, “To prevent such accidents from happening again, instructions have been given to conduct a structural audit of all hoardings in Mumbai and immediately take down dangerous ones.”