Death toll in Mumbai building collapse climbs to 25

Mumbai: Rescue operations were on Saturday on to find any possible survivor in the huge rubble of the five-storey residential BMC building that collapsed in Mazgaon area here as the death toll in the incident rose to 25 \"The death toll in the collapse has risen to 25 and 32 people are injured,\" civic sources said and added that more persons were feared trapped under the debris. However, the deceased have not been identified yet. The injured have been admitted to state-run JJ Hospital and Nair Hospital. Last night, the toll stood at 13 including three of family. Relatives of the missing persons wailed as heavy machinery lifted large slabs of concrete and rescue workers scoured the site. Around 21 families, which were BMC's tenants, lived in the 30-year-old structure. It was categorised as a C-2 building, which meant that it was in need of urgent repairs. The building is located on Brahmadev Khot Marg near Babu Genu market in the Mazgaon area, which is close to the Dockyard Road railway station on the harbour railway line. Anish Kadam (10), Diptesh Kadam (16), Habib Shaikh (22), Tauqeer Shaikh (22), Haroon Shaikh (24) and Ajay Chendvankar (40) were among those rescued. D S Patil, a fire brigade official, was injured during rescue operation. Yesterday, Maharashtra Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan had a meeting with senior officials and asked them to ensure effective relief and rescue operation. He also visited the injured at the J J Hospital and said strict action will be taken against those found guilty of the building's collapse. BMC said it has formed two committees to probe the collapse incident and ordered audit of similar buildings in the city. The civic body has filed a complaint against one 'Mamamiyan Decorator' who had allegedly made some alterations on the ground floor of the building. The affected families would be given alternative accommodation in the vicinity. It has also announced a compensation of Rs 2 lakh each to the family of the deceased. The BMC has also decided to bear the cost of treating the injured, civic officials said. This is the second major building collapse in Mumbai this year. Aftab Mansion, a residential building in suburban Mahim West had collapsed in June, killing ten people.