5 dead, over 74 injured as storm, rains wreak havoc in Mumbai
MUMBAI: At least four people were killed and more than 70 others injured on Monday after an illegally installed hoarding fell on a petrol pump in Ghatkopar area; while one more person died after a tree fell on the shed on a road in Bandra, as unseasonal rains accompanied by dust storms hit Mumbai, police said.
A team of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) has reached the spot where the over 100-foot-tall billboard collapsed and a search-and-rescue operation is underway, according to Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) officials.
“So far, 74 people have been admitted to the Rajawadi hospital. Four people were found dead at the spot,” Rajesh Kewale, senior inspector at Pant Nagar police station, said, said, adding that one person is critical and 31 were discharged. “Today, on May 13, around 4.30 pm, a sudden storm and heavy rain led to a devastating incident. A metal girder from a billboard, sized 70/50 metres (120 x 120 feet), collapsed at the Railway Petrol Pump, Samta Colony, Ghatkopar (E), injuring 37 people…,” Mumbai Police posted on X.
The hoarding was illegal as the BMC had not given permission for erecting it, the BMC chief told reporters. “It was an illegal hoarding. The location where the incident occurred has four hoardings set up on the railway land and one of them has collapsed. BMC had been objecting to (setting up) hoardings for [past] one year,” Gagrani said, adding the BMC would issue a notice for immediate removal of the hoardings and a criminal complaint will be lodged against the landholding authority and the billboard owner.
Meanwhile, chief minister Eknath Shinde also visited the spot late in the evening and announced an ex gratia of ₹5 lakh to the victims’ next of kin. “The government will bear all the expenses for the treatment of the injured. Those who are responsible for the incident will be booked under sections of culpable homicide,” Shinde said.
The unseasonal rain and dust storms, though brought the temperature down in the city and adjoining areas, it brought the traffic in the country’s financial capital to a grinding halt. It also affected the operations of flights and local trains, officials said.
In a similar incident, an underconstruction metal parking tower collapsed on a road amid rain and gusty winds at Pooja Junction in Wadala, police said, adding three people were injured in the incident.
Meanwhile, a 35-year-old man died and another sustained injuries after a branch of Umbar tree fell on the asbestos roof of a shed at Hill Road in Bandra. The deceased has been identified as Irfan Khan, police said.