Ghatkopar hoarding incident: Death toll reaches 17; Mumbai Police Crime Branch forms SIT for investigation

On May 13, 16 people were killed when a giant billboard in Ghatkopar collapsed due to unseasonal rains and strong winds in Mumbai. This number has now reached 17. Because one more injured person has died in this incident. The number of injured in this accident has increased to 73. Also, an SIT inquiry will be conducted in this case.

What exactly happened?

A giant hoarding of 120 by 120 square feet was put up on the Ghatkopar East Expressway. Allegations were made on the approval of this advertisement hoarding. However, many cars were buried under the collapsed board. As there was a petrol pump nearby, there were difficulties in the rescue work. Therefore, rescue work was going on there for the last 48 hours.

Hoarding was removed with the help of gas cutter

This hoarding was removed with the help of a gas cutter. After that, the cars buried under the hoarding were pulled out. Two dead bodies were found in one of the cars. NDRF had already indicated that the death toll would increase when these efforts were underway. Accordingly, the bodies of both were recovered late on the 16th. So the total death toll was 16. Now according to the information received today, the number of dead in this incident has increased to 17 while 73 people are injured.

Why did it take so long to remove the plaque?

Due to the stockpile of flammable materials, rescue operations were handled with care. Special precautions had to be taken while cutting the iron pillars to avoid accidents like fire due to sparks. Even with it, while the work was going on Wednesday morning, a fire suddenly broke out there. However, the fire was quickly brought under control by the firemen who hit the water in time and after that the work was resumed. The collapsed slab has been cut into spare parts and the work of removing all the debris along with these spare parts is being started at war level. The relief work could not be completed without the removal of the four large pillars of the board. Each pillar was cut into pieces and separated, delaying rescue operations.