On Friday, the death toll in the Fort building collapse increased to 10. The Bhanushali Building, near Lucky House, in Fort area had collapsed on Thursday at around 4:30 pm.
According to a reports, the 100-year-old building had more than 20 residential and 37 commercial tenants which included groceries and medical stores till last year. The officials of the Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority (MHADA) had mentioned that the owner of the building was given a no-objection certificate to start the repair work of the building. However, the locals said that the repair work got delayed due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The housing board has made arrangements for people to stay in Borivali and Magathane. As per the officials, the decision to pull down the structure will be taken later.
The people who lost their lives in this accident have been identified as Shailesh Balchandra Kandu (17) who was undergoing treatment at JJ Hospital after being pulled out from the rubble on Thursday night. Kusum Gupta (45), Kiran Dhiraj Mishra (35), Jyotsna Gupta (50), Padmalal Gupta (50), Riku Chaurasiya (25), Pradip Chaurasiya (35), Maniben Nanji Fariya (62), Kalpesh Nazi Faria (32). One person is yet to be identified.
The rescue operation went on for 24 hours with the team of Fire Brigade and National Disaster Response Force (NDRF). PS Rahangdle, Chief Fire Officer, MFB said “While searching for the people trapped below the debris and lifting the rubbles, we have to keep in mind that the remaining portion of the structure is still in a precarious condition. A second collapse cannot be ruled out in this scenario.”