The death toll in the BMC building collapse at Dockyard Road reached 54 on Saturday. The number is likely to go up as there are still some people (about 10) feared trapped under the debris. Around 33 people were injured in the mishap, while eight have been rescued safely. The Sewri police on Saturday morning also arrested mandap decorator Ashok Mehta (45) for alleged negligence that led to the collapse. He had allegedly constructed small mezzanine sections on the pillars of the ground floor of the building to store equipment that caused the pillars to weaken, leading to the collapse. Rescue operations continued throughout the day as the death toll kept rising. By evening, the casualty numbers kept increasing rapidly as all hopes of finding victims alive faded gradually. The ongoing rescue operations being conducted by the fire brigade and the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) personnel will continue even on Sunday, civic officials said. On Saturday afternoon, over 30 hours after the collapse, family members were still not giving up hope and were seen asking rescue team member to search for their missing relatives.
