Mumbra building collapse: two bodies pulled out of debris

The rescue operations team on Sunday team pulled out the bodies of two more residents of Banno building in Mumbra, which collapsed on Saturday. Sajana Nambiar reports.

The rescue operations team on Sunday team pulled out the bodies of two more residents of Banno building in Mumbra, which collapsed on Saturday.

The two victims have been identified as Javed Qureshi, 25, and Moin Mustan Qureshi, 35.

The Mumbra police, who arrested builder Mohammed Akhil Shaikh, 63, and his son Shakeel Akhil Shaikh on Saturday, produced the duo in Thane court on Sunday. “They have been remanded in police custody till September 24,” said Usha Suradkar, investigation officer, Mumbra police.

On Sunday, the police arrested Shaikh’s wife Banno, 54. She will be produced in court on Monday.

Santosh Kadam, disaster management officer, Thane Municipal Corporation, sai that rescue work went on for almost 20 hours and has now ended.

“We tried our best to rescue those two men, but the place is so congested that it took us hours to clear out all the debris and pull them out,” Kadam said.

“The access road to the building is so narrow that we are not able to use machines, trucks or fire engines freely; only one vehicle can enter the space at a time. Work to clear the debris will continue,” he added

Saba Qureshi, 20, who was praying that officials would be able to rescue her husband Javed, is in shock, her family said. “She is not uttering a word or responding to any of us. We are worried for her as she is very young and they were newly married,” her uncle said, requesting not to be identified.

Nobody has as yet appeared to claim the body of the other victim, Moin.

Sandeep Malvi, deputy municipal commissioner, Thane Municipal Corporation, said:

“We have decided to give Rs 5,000 to each of the 28 families as they have lost all their belongings.”

The families have been provided temporary accommodation at MMRDA’s (the city planning authority) rental homes at Vartak Nagar in Thane.