Three killed in slab collapse at Mumbai’s Zaveri Bazaar building

A common passage on the fourth floor of the decade-old five storey building at Shamseth Street had collapsed, bringing down the passage of the third, second and first floor.

Three people were killed after part of a slab of a building at Zaveri Bazaar collapsed on Friday while the structure was being repaired. The three labourers, out of the four that were trapped under the rubble, were rushed to JJ hospital. They have been identified as Rocky Shaikh, 22; Firoz Khan, 23; and Safarul Huq, 22. Rescue operations were underway, at the time of going to press, for the fourth man, a scrap dealer.

The structure where the collapse occurred. (HT Photo)

A common passage on the fourth floor of the decade-old five storey building at Shamseth Street had collapsed, bringing down the passage of the third, second and first floor.

The Mumbai Fire Brigade (MFB) received a call about the incident at 1.30pm. Five fire engines and one rescue van were rushed to the spot. P Rahangdale, chief of the MFB, said, “Ten labourers were working on the fourth floor and six were working on the first floor when the incident took place.”

The building falls under the Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority’s (MHADA) Mumbai Repair and Reconstruction Board. Officials said that the impact of the collapse has affected the building, which may collapse any time. Initially, nine people were trapped, of which five were rescued.

The repair board of MHADA had issued a notice asking people to vacate the building in October 2016, however, the tenants refused to do so. A senior official said, “After the tenants agreed, we issued a notice in September this year and started the work.” The repair work had started in the first week of December.

Five labourers working at the building alleged that they had warned the contractor to start propping work of the building (a process in which structures are temporarily placed to support slabs) before initiating the repair work. The MHADA official, however, denied the claims. “Propping is the most important step to conduct repairs on a dilapidated structure. The final report will clear everything,” he said.