UPDATE: At Least 4 Dead, 110 Feared Trapped Under Debris Following Building Collapse In Mumbai, India
Update as of 7:10 a.m. EDT: The death toll in the building collapse in Mumbai rose to four, while about 110 people are now believed to be trapped under the rubble, Reuters reported, citing a Mumbai city administration official. Rescue workers have deployed six cranes to pull out people from the debris of the collapsed building, which was reportedly 35 years old and housed 20 families.
At least one person was reported dead and 40 people are feared to be trapped under debris after the collapse of a multi-story building in India’s financial capital of Mumbai, First Post reported, adding that the residential building housed at least 30 families.
The five-story residential building near Dockyard Road, in the city’s southeast, collapsed at about 6 a.m. local time (8.30 p.m. EDT). According to NDTV, an Indian television channel, four people have so far been rescued from under the debris and taken to a nearby government-run hospital.
Four ambulances and 12 fire engines are currently on the spot to aid rescue operations, according to reports.
Building collapses have become a common occurrence in India's cities, with Associated Press reporting that builders often cut corners by using substandard building materials to meet ballooning housing demand in fast-growing cities such as Mumbai.
This year alone, more than 80 people lost their lives in separate incidents of building collapses in Mumbai. AP reported that at least 72 people died in April when an illegally constructed building came down, and just two months later 10 people, including five children, died when a three-story building collapsed.
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