Death toll in building crash in Maharashtra's Bhiwandi rises to eight

The deceased included an elderly couple who owned the building, and six members of a family living on ground the floor, officials said.

Thane (Maharashtra): At least eight people were killed when a two-storey building came crashing down at Bhiwandi in Thane district, a week after as many people lost their lives in a similar incident of house collapse in the powerloom town near Mumbai.

The deceased included an elderly couple who owned the building, declared as "most dangerous" by the civic body, and six members of a family living on ground the floor, officials said.

The building located on Khadan Road in Hanuman Tekadi locality crashed around 8 am.

Owner Sajjanlal Mahadev Gupta (60) and his wife Satyawati Sajjanlal Gupta (55) died at a hospital, Resident Deputy Collector Vandana Suryavanshi said.

An NDRF team rushed to the spot and by evening six more bodies were pulled out of the debris. The deceased have been identified as Dhaniram B Rajput (45), his wife Rekha (35), sons Devesh (9) and Naitik (3), daughter Shivani (13) and Dhaniram's mother Somvanti B Rajput (60).

Two injured persons -- Ramjan Ali Ahmed Ansari (38) and Shabir Ali Mohamamd Azim Ansari (38) are still being treated at the hospital, while some others were discharged.

The 35-year-old building had been declared as "most dangerous", a release by Bhiwandi-Nizampur Municipal Corporation said.

According to a spokesman for the civic body, the occupants had been served eviction notices after which two of the around 5-6 families had vacated their accomodations.

Water connection had been cut and power supply was about to be snapped by the administration as the remaining occupants were not ready to leave, he said.

On July 31, a two-storey residential building, similarly dilapidated, had collapsed in the town amid heavy rain claiming eight lives.