5 children killed as Mumbai building collapses
Key Takeaways
- Five children died in collapse.
- Residents blamed ignored safety warnings.
- Heavy monsoon rains continued across Mumbai.
Residents blamed ignored safety warnings after a three-storey building collapsed during heavy monsoon rains, killing at least six people, including five children.
A three-storey residential building collapsed in Mumbai's eastern suburb of Mankhurd on Sunday, killing at least six people, including five children, as torrential monsoon rains continued to batter India's financial capital.
Rescue teams, firefighters and police launched a large-scale operation to search through the rubble, using heavy machinery to clear debris amid fears that more people could still be trapped.
Before emergency crews arrived, local residents rushed to help those buried beneath the collapsed structure.
Ayaz Khan said neighbours managed to pull several children from the rubble before municipal authorities reached the scene.
"Residents had already pulled out two or three bodies of the children before BMC's (Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation) arrival," he said.
"There was an innocent little girl here, too. Man, she was four years old. What was her fault? She also died."
Khan also criticised the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation, claiming concerns about the condition of the buildings had been raised but no action was taken.
"BMC people were supposed to come. They had visited here, people say. After that, they visited, took photos and left. They had come and gone back. If they had taken action at that very time, this accident wouldn't have happened," he lamented.
The collapse came as heavy monsoon rains caused widespread disruption across Mumbai and other parts of India. Schools and colleges in the city remained closed on Monday after more than 265 mm of rain fell within 24 hours.
According to the disaster management minister, record rainfall across Mumbai, Palghar and Raigad has claimed 13 lives in recent days through building collapses, landslides and falling trees.
India's Meteorological Department said monsoon conditions are expected to continue across central parts of the country for the next three days, bringing further heavy rainfall.
The severe weather has also disrupted operations at Mumbai's Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport, with runway operations suspended at intervals on July 5 and 6.
This story is written and edited by the Global South World team, you can contact us here.
