Five killed, 10 injured after slab of building collapses at Ulhasnagar

ULHASNAGAR: Five people were killed, while 10 others suffered minor injuries after the slab of a ground-plus-five-storey residential building Mohini Palace at Ulhasnagar’s Charandas Chowk collapsed on Saturday afternoon.

The victims have been identified as Milind Parche, 12, and his grandmother Savitri, 60, who lived on the first floor; Haresh Dotwal, 43, his wife Sandhya, 40, and daughter Aishwarya, 23, who lived in a single terrace flat above the fourth floor.

The incident took place around 1.30pm when the ceiling of fourth floor fell on the floors below. As per UMC, eight families lived in the building at the time of the incident, with the ground floor housing shops.

A team of Ulhasnagar Municipal Corporation’s (UMC) fire brigade reached the spot with three fire tenders and initiated the rescue operations. Around 10 people were evacuated from the building. “A portion of the roof on the fourth floor collapsed. Our fire brigade team managed to rescue 10 persons, of which two are admitted to Central Hospital with minor injuries, while others were released after treatment,” said UMC commissioner Raja Dayanidhi.

Meanwhile, the rescue operations for the five people trapped inside the debris was initiated by the Thane disaster response force (TDRF) around 5.15pm.

Thirty minutes later, Milind was pulled out from the debris. A team of National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) also reached the spot around 6.40 pm and joined the rescue operations. The other four victims were also pulled out from the debris. They were rushed to Central Hospital, where they were declared dead. The rescue operations were called off around 10 pm after the last body was removed from the debris.

According to UMC records, the building was constructed in 1994 (27 years old) and is not in the list of dangerous structures. However, Ganesh Shimpi, assistant commissioner ward committee 1, UMC, said, “The terrace flat which the building had above the fourth floor is illegal. We will inquire on this angle and take necessary action.”

An evacuated resident, Devidas Bachwani, 61, claimed that he had been complaining about the dilapidated state of the building to UMC and the local police since the past three years. “The civic body has already started serving notices to dangerous buildings. The owners are asked to conduct structural audits. From June, the civic body will be taking action against those buildings that are in the dangerous structures’ list,” added Dayanidhi.

RISHIKESH CHOUDHARY/HT The incident took place around 1.30pm when the ceiling of the fourth floor fell on the floors below.