7 killed as slab of building collapses in Thane district
Seven people were killed after a slab of a five-storey residential building collapsed in Ulhasnagar town near Mumbai. The Maharashtra government has announced a compensation of `5 lakh to the kin of each deceased.
According to fire officials of the Ulhasnagar Municipal Corporation (UMC), a slab of the upper floor of five-story Sai Shakti building crashed on late Friday night. The fire brigade reached the spot and started rescue operations. While many residents managed to rush out of the building in time, others were pulled out of the rubble with the help of locals.
The casualties included four from the same family. The deceased were identified as Punit Panjwani (17), Dinesh Panjwani (40), Deepak Panjwani (42), Mohini Panjwani (65), Krishna Bajaj (24), Amruta Bajaj (54) and Lovely Bajaj (20).
UMC public relations officer Yuvraj Badhane said, “The building was not on this year’s dangerous buildings list. It was built in 1994-95.”
State Minister Ekanth Shinde rushed to the spot to take stock of the situation. He said, “The state government would give `5 lakh to the kin of each deceased.”
This is the second building collapse incident in Ulhasnagar town in the last fortnight. On May 15, five people were killed, while 10 others suffered minor injuries after the slab of a ground-plus-fivestorey residential building Mohini Palace at Ulhasnagar’s Charandas Chowk collapsed.
A sizable population of Sindhi refugees, who migrated after partition of India, reside in Ulhasnagar. Many constructions in the town are unauthorised.