Nine laborers fall to their deaths in Pune

MUMBAI: Nine laborers fell to their deaths from the 13th floor of a residential tower block under construction in western India Friday after a concrete slab collapsed, an official said.

Four other construction workers were injured in the accident in the city of Pune, around 120 kilometers ( 75 miles) from India’s financial capital Mumbai.

“Nine workers fell to their death from the 13th floor after the slab collapsed at around 11:00 am (0530 GMT),” National Disaster Response Force official Sachidanand Gawde told AFP.

Pune police said they had launched an investigation into the incident.

Building collapses are common in India, where high demand for housing and lax regulations have encouraged some builders to cut corners, use substandard materials or add unauthorized extra floors.

In April 2013, 74 people were killed when an eight-story building being constructed illegally in a Mumbai suburb in western Maharashtra state caved in. It was the worst building collapse in the country in decades.