South Mumbai building collapse toll reaches 33

Mumbai: The death toll in the Hussaini building collapse at Bhendi Bazaar in south Mumbai reached 33 with the rescue operations finally being called off on Friday morning. Fire officials said the fire arising from sweet mart’s kitchen at ground floor might have added to more casualties.

The 117-year old Husaini building located on the congested Pakmodia Street had collapsed like a pack of cards on Thursday. The deceased included 22 men, eight women and three children, including a 20-day old boy. Twelve other people were injured in the collapse.

The rescue operations continued overnight. By Friday night, 24 deaths had been reported. Rescuers pulled nine more bodies from the rubble overnight and were still picking through debris Friday morning in the hope of finding more survivors.

“By 10.30 am we called off the rescue operations by ensuring that no one is left missing after clearing the debris. There is a possibility that casualties have increased due to fire and smoke in the sweet mart on the ground floor. It might have caused problems to people trapped under the debris to breathe, thus affecting their chances of survival,” said chief fire officer Prabhat Rahangdale.

The rescue officials used earth-moving machines to lift concrete slabs and cement blocks. The collapse has left some portion of the Hussaini building in precarious condition. “We will have to demolish the portion manually as using machines to do this will cause damage to neighbouring buildings,” said a fire official.

The Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority (MHADA) had declared the Hussaini building unsafe six years ago. However, five families continued to live in the dangerous building. A nursery school had also continued to operate on the first floor, though it was not open when the building collapsed. The Saifee Burhani Upliftment Trust (SBUT) has undertaken redevelopment of the Hussaini building.