Mumbra house collapse toll reaches 45

The death toll in the so-called "pancake" collapse of a seven-storey building in Mumbra on Thursday evening had reached 45 twenty-four hours later. Fifty-nine injured had been pulled out of the debris alive. The National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), Fire Brigade and local people continued to search for more survivors on Friday evening.

The illegal building had come up on forest land in barely three months. Cranes were being used to remove large chunks of rubble, but rescuers were mainly chipping away painstakingly with hammers and chisels, said an official who is part of the NDRF team at the site.

Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan, who visited Mumbra during the day, informed the state Legislative Council in the evening that Thane had 57 "very dangerous" and 1,159 "dangerous" buildings. The building that collapsed was still under construction, but fully occupied. He announced ex-gratia of Rs 2 lakh for each of the dead and Rs 50,000 for the injured.

Thane Police have slapped the charge of culpable homicide on the builders Jameel Qureshi and Salim Sheikh, both of whom are on the run. The government has suspended a senior police inspector of the Shil-Daighar police station and the deputy municipal commissioner of zone 1 of Thane Municipal Corporation.

"There are at least 2,000 illegal buildings in Mumbra, which is one of the most difficult areas under the Thane Municipal Corporation," Municipal Commissioner R A Rajeev of Thane city said. "Construction happens mostly without architect consultancy and planning. The tenants help the builders bring in raw materials. When civic officials go for demolition action, people collectively come together and start reading namaz loudly."