Bhiwandi building collapse: One more body recovered, death toll rises to four

The body of a man was recovered on Sunday from the debris of a twostorey building which collapsed in Bhiwandi town of Maharashtras Thane district taking the toll to four an official saidFifteen people were still feared trapped Thane Municipal Corporations Regional Disaster Management Cell RDMC chief Avinash Sawant saidTwelve people were injured after the structure collapsed like a pack of cards at 145 pm on Saturday at Wardhaman Compound in Valpada area officials saidThe building had godowns on the ground and first floors while four families occupied the upper floor Some workers were present on the ground floor when the structure collapsed Sawant saidAlso Read Bhiwandi building collapse 12 people rescued Maharashtra CM visits incident siteTeams of the National Disaster Response Force NDRF and the State Disaster Response Force SDRF were carrying out the search and rescue operation he saidAt around 1030 am on Sunday the NDRF and SDRF teams recovered the body of a man in the age group of 35 to 40 years from the debris Sawant told PTIThe body which was yet to be identified was sent to a government hospital for postmortem he saidEarlier one person named Sunil Pisa 38 was rescued at around 8 am on Sunday from the debris and rushed to the IGM Hospital in Bhiwandi Narpoli police stations senior inspector Madan Ballal saidA container and two tempos which had come to the godown for loadingunloading were also crushedSawant 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 farIt is feared that nearly 15 persons might be trapped We are keeping our fingers crossed Everything will be clear only after these floors are cleared he saidTen fire engines ambulances trucks and earthmoving machines were also pressed into the relief and rescue operation he addedMaharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde termed the incident as most unfortunate and visited the collapse site as well as the injured persons undergoing treatment in Bhiwandis IGM Hospital late Saturday nightBhiwandi Deputy Commissioner of Police Navnath Dhavle told PTI that offences under various sections of the Indian Penal Code have been registered against the structure owner Indrapal PatilNo arrest has been made so far he addedThe building was about 10 years old and possibly could not take the load of a mobile tower recently installed on top of it according to a civic officialCM Shinde told reporters that he has instructed Thane Collector Ashok Shingare and other authorities to immediately carry out a survey of the structures declared most dangerous in the districtHe also directed the officials to immediately shift the people occupying such buildings to safer places as the monsoon was just around the cornerShinde said cluster development was the only solution to the problems arising on account of the dangerous buildingsAt the IGM Hospital CM Shinde enquired about the condition of the injured persons including two minor brothers Prem Ravikumar Mahanto 7 and Prince Ravikumar Mahanto 5 who lost their mother Lalita Devi 26 in the incidentHe consoled the two siblings and told them we are here with youShinde has announced a compensation of Rs 5 lakh each to the kin of the deceased while medical expenses of the injured would be borne by the state governmentThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever