Mumbai, 6th April: The death toll in Thane collapsed building rose to 72 on Saturday and the National Disaster Response Force announced that it was ending rescue operation in the tragic collapse.
According to the Regional Disaster Management Control (RDMC) sources, the mishap left 72 people dead including 33 men, 22 women, and 17 children.
The 60 other injured in which 36 have been admitted to the hospitals in Thane, Kalwa and Mumbra. The seriously injured have been shifted to JJ and Sion Hospitals in Mumbai.
Rescue workers using cranes and bulldozers continued to search through the wreck of twisted steel and concrete after the seven-storey building collapsed “like a pack of cards” on Thursday evening, officials and witnesses said. Official said.
The building, which was in a forested area in the city of Thane, had been made using poor materials and without proper approvals, said Sandeep Malvi, a spokesman for licensing authority the Thane Municipal Corporation.
As the sun rose on Saturday, around 100 workers from the national disaster relief agency continued to use jackhammers and other equipment to cut through the pile of metal and concrete.
The woman dragged from the building on Saturday was found after workers heard her voice and used camera equipment to pinpoint her location under the rubble. A 10-month old infant was pulled from the debris on Friday.
The seriously injured have been shifted to JJ and Sion Hospitals in Mumbai. A 65-year-old woman, identified as Kutibi Shaikh was rescued, according to reports.
At the collapse site, another survivor Shabnam told reporters that she had received a distress call on her mobile phone from a young teacher around 3 pm yesterday saying that she was trapped along with six-seven students, but lost contact thereafter.
A case has been registered against builders Salil and Khalil Jamadar under Sec 304 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder) of IPC but no arrests have been made so far in the case, police control room said.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan on Friday announced a probe to be conducted by an additional chief secretary of the urban development department and the suspension of two officials – Thane Municipal Corporation deputy municipal commissioner in-charge of illegal constructions Deepak Chavan and local senior inspector of police KP Naik.
Police said they were searching for the builders and would charge them with culpable homicide in connection with the disaster.
“Unauthorised constructions are a product of unavailability of affordable housing,” said Lalit Kumar Jain, president of the Confederation of Real Estate Developers of India.
Local activist Mangal Patil had also registered repeated complaints with the Thane Municipal Corporation about the unauthorised structure, but to no avail. Speaking to media persons, Mangal Patil claimed that there were over 100 such buildings in the area.
Bureau Report
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