19 die after building collapses
MUMBAI, India — Torrential rains caused a five-story apartment building to collapse Thursday in the west Indian financial capital of Mumbai, killing 19 people and possibly burying more than a dozen others, police said.
Rescuers, residents and police officers managed to pull 30 injured people from the rubble. More than a dozen others were missing and feared trapped beneath a huge mound of mud, broken concrete slabs and twisted steel girders.
The building was one of thousands in Mumbai that are more than 100 years old, with foundations that have been weakened by years of heavy monsoon rains. Last month, another four-story building toppled in the city’s suburb of Ghatkopar, killing 17.
Thursday’s tragedy occurred in a congested area of Mumbai’s southern Bhendi Bazaar area, following the city’s heaviest rainfall in 15 years.
Authorities were advising people living in an adjacent building to vacate after it developed cracks following Thursday’s early morning collapse.
Building collapses are common in India during the monsoon season, which is June to September. High demand and lax regulations encourage some builders to use substandard materials or add unauthorized extra floors.
Property prices and rents in Mumbai are among the highest in India as the city has expanded in the past five decades.
The city has been slowly limping back to normalcy after being paralyzed by heavy downpours for two days.
Every year the city struggles to cope with the annual monsoon deluge, drawing criticism about its poor planning.
Since the start of the season, devastating floods across South Asia have killed at least 1,000 people and affected close to 40 million across northern India, southern Nepal and northern Bangladesh.