E-Paper
Eight person including four minors rescued after house collapses in Mundhwa
Three persons have been discharged after administering first aid while five of the injured are admitted to the Sassoon General Hospital for treatment.
A major tragedy was averted when the ground-storey walls of a two-storeyed building, belonging to Subhash Bhandwalkar, collapsed on Saturday afternoon in Keshavnagar. As many as eight persons including domesticated milch animals were trapped in the debris.
All the trapped persons were rescued by the fire department personnel assisted by the city police and the Pune municipal corporation (PMC) employees.
Prashant Ranpise, Pune fire brigade chief, said that the incident took place around 12:30 pm when the weakened wall of the ground floor collapsed suddenly leading to panic amongst the neighbours and inmates. A total of eight persons were trapped in the debris and have been rescued.
Three persons have been discharged after administering first aid while five of the injured are admitted to the Sassoon General Hospital for treatment. The PMC had earlier issued a notice to the owner asking him to vacate the premises as the building structure had become dilapidated and was on the verge of collapse.
Ranpise explained that the house was located in the gram panchayat area earlier and it came under the jurisdiction of the corporation sometime later. “The entire ground floor collapsed leading to chaos. All the eight persons belonged to three families staying in the house. The walls had become weak and had a cement concrete structure as roof came crashing down along with the walls. Fortunately, there was no fatality,” he said.
Meanwhile, an accidental case has been lodged at the Mundhwa police station.
According to the police, house owner Subhash Bhandwalkar sustained fracture in both legs while wife Aruna has a cheek bone injury. Their son Suraj escaped with minor injuries and his wife has sustained hand and leg fracture. Suraj’s six-month-old daughter Tanvi sustained scratches under her eyes.
Their tenant Ashok Kumar Maurya’s son Aditya (4) sustained fractures while daughter Poonam (8) sustained minor injuries. Ashok’s wife Vanita had a leg injury and is recuperating from the shock as she was trapped in the debris.
Besides them, Swara Shitkar (1) and Sakshi Shitkal (2) were safely rescued by localites and fire brigade personnel. Two cows trapped inside were rescued safely, but one buffalo died in the incident. The rescue operations continued for over six hours.
Prashant Waghmare, city engineer, said, “The area was recently merged in the Pune municipal corporation. Earlier, it was managed by the local gram panchayat. The construction is near one nullah. PMC did not have any record who gave permission to it, but PMC will check dangerous constructions in this area.”
