Bhiwandi building collapse: Toll rises to five, rescue operations continue even after 24 hours

Bhiwandi Deputy Commissioner of Police Navnath Dhavle said that offences under various sections of the IPC have been registered against the structure owner Indrapal Patil though he is yet to be arrested.

The toll in the collapse of a two-storey building in Bhiwandi in Maharashtra’s Thane district reached five on April 30 afternoon after the body of a man was recovered from the debris even as search and rescue operations continued more than 24 hours after the incident.

The building in Wardhaman Compound in Valpada in Mankoli, which housed godowns on the ground and first floors and four families on the top floor, collapsed into a heap of concrete at 1.45 p.m. on April 29.

Several people are still feared trapped and work of clearing the debris as part of the search and rescue operation helmed by the National Disaster Response Force, the State Disaster Response Force, fire brigade and civic teams continued, Thane Municipal Corporation regional disaster management cell chief Avinash Sawant said.

The deceased whose body was pulled out at 10.30 a.m. on April 30 has been identified as Sudhakar Gavai, while the man who was found dead in the debris in the afternoon is 22-year-old Pravin Chaudhary, the official said.

Earlier, one person named Sunil Pisa (38) was rescued at around 8 a.m. on April 30 from the debris and rushed to IGM Hospital in Bhiwandi, Narpoli police station’s senior inspector Madan Ballal said.

A container and two tempos which had come to the godown for loading and unloading were also crushed.

Mr. Sawant said the rescue teams have cleared the upper floor, but the ground floor and the first floor where most of the workers were working in the godowns have not been cleared so far.