Woman killed, 8 injured as 4-storey building collapses in Maharashtra’s Bhiwandi

The eight-year-old building was declared dilapidated by the Bhiwandi tehsildar six months ago.

A woman was killed and eight others injured when part of an illegal four-storey building collapsed on a tenement and an adjoining public toilet in Khoni village in Maharashtra’s Bhiwandi on Tuesday night.

The 8-year-old building – located in Khoni gram panchayat limits of Rasulabag – was declared dilapidated by the Bhiwandi tehsildar six months ago. (Praful Gangurde / HT Photo)

The victim was identified as 25-year-old Khairunissa Sayyad. The injured – including two children – were sent to Bhiwandi’s Indira Gandhi Memorial Hospital, where they were pronounced out of danger.

Thane district information officer Anirudha Ashthaputre said fire officials from Bhiwandi and Thane were rushed to the spot soon after the collapse occurred around 9 pm. They were soon joined by National Disaster Management Force personnel from Thane, and the rescue operation was wrapped up around 2 am on Wednesday.

“Everybody has already been rescued, and only the debris is being cleared now,” said Ashthaputre.

Incidentally, the eight-year-old building – located in Khoni gram panchayat limits of Rasulabag – was declared dilapidated by the Bhiwandi tehsildar six months ago. On Monday, a wall of the building’s ground floor suddenly crumbled – providing the authorities with an advance warning. The 22 families living in the structure were evacuated in the next few hours.

“We also asked the residents of the tenement to vacate it, considering how the nearby building was falling apart,” said Bhiwandi tehsildar Shashikant Gaikwad.

Nizampur police have registered a case of accidental death for now. “We will launch the process of booking the building owner once the civic authorities submit their report,” said police inspector R Kote.