One Dead As Three-Storey Building Collapses In Dombivli Near Mumbai

A three-storey residential building in Dombivli East, Maharashtra's Thane district, collapsed after being deemed "dangerous and dilapidated" by civic authorities.

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A three-storey building in Dombivli, Maharashtra, collapsed on Friday evening, resulting in the recovery of one body, news agency ANI reported. The building's collapse occurred around 5:40 pm on Friday, leading to a search and rescue operation. The body of Suraj Birja Lodya (55) was retrieved from the rubble shortly after the incident.

#WATCH | Maharashtra | A three-storey building collapsed in Dombivli this evening, one body recovered. Search and rescue operations underway. Details awaited. pic.twitter.com/dIyu2LmOrC

— ANI (@ANI) September 15, 2023

According to news agency PTI, the residential building, which had previously been deemed "dangerous and dilapidated" by civic authorities, collapsed on Friday, killing a 55-year-old man. The ill-fated building, known as 'Adinarayan Bhuvan' and located in Ayre village within the Kalyan Dombivali Municipal Corporation (KDMC) limits, housed 44 tenements. Authorities began an evacuation process on Thursday after signs of structural instability became apparent.

Bhausaheb Dangde, the Chief of KDMC, expressed concern over the fate of two individuals who are believed to be unwell and remain unaccounted for. However, all other occupants had been successfully evacuated in the lead-up to the collapse.

"The 50-year-old building was declared dangerous and a notice had been issued asking occupants to vacate. Many had vacated but some had returned to the building," Dangde was quoted as saying by PTI.

The building had been under close scrutiny due to its precarious state, and evacuation efforts began on Thursday evening and continued until the collapse. The KDMC had previously identified the structure as a hazardous edifice, according to an official, as reported by PTI. 

The fire department and local disaster management teams are conducting a search and rescue operation at the site, which is being overseen by Dangde and other senior officials.

Another civic official on the scene revealed that the ward contained a total of 40 dangerous buildings. Furthermore, the KDMC jurisdiction includes 602 such hazardous structures.

In response to questions about civic measures for such structures, Dangde stated that the immediate priority was to focus on search and rescue operations at the collapsed building site.

Yasin Tadvi, Chief of the Thane Municipal Corporation disaster management cell, reported that a Thane Disaster Response Force team promptly responded to an alert about the building collapse, deploying additional resources to the scene, the report said.