3 injured in Thane after wall collapses in shop

Wall fell during repairs on the floor above; officials said shop is located in an illegal slum in Thane city.

Three people, including a three-year-old boy, were injured after a wall collapsed on them in Thane’s Hajuri locality on Tuesday.

The wall of the ground-plus-one structure in Kherola chawl, behind Jama Masjid, collapsed on Tuesday afternoon. (Praful Gangurde)

The victims, all residents of the locality, have been admitted to hospital nearby. They include Shabitul Khan, 50, who has suffered major injuries; Raju Suresh, 45; and Mohammad Faja, 3, who received minor injuries.

The wall of a ground-plus-one structure in Kherola chawl, behind the Jama Masjid, collapsed in the afternoon, officials said. The owner of the house, Shadab Siddhique, 42, said the wall was not in a bad condition, but had fallen owing to some repair work that was going on. “Work was going on in the gallery of the upper floor of my house. The workers did something wrong and the wall collapsed suddenly. The customers standing in the shop next to my house got injured,” Siddique said.

Santosh Kadam, in charge of Thane’s Regional Disaster Management Cell (RDMC), said the chawl where the incident took place is illegal. “The entire area is full of illegal slums, so there can be similar incidents in the future. The RDMC has cleared the debris,” he said.

“No police case has been registered as it was not a major accident. None of the relatives has come forward to file a case against the house owner,” said an official from Wagle Estate police station, requesting anonymity.