Thane (Maharashtra), Sep 23 The overnight death toll in the building crash in Maharashtra's Bhiwandi town shot up to 35 with 10 more bodies recovered from the debris as the search for more victims continues after over 48 hours, officials said here on Wednesday.
Minors apparently bore the brunt of the tragedy as the dead comprise at least five infants and 10 other boys and girls aged below 15, besides nine women and 11 men, said an official of the Bhiwandi-Nizampur Municipal Corporation (BNMC), in what is now the biggest building crash of the current monsoon in Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR) in terms of fatalities.
Besides, another 25 persons have been rescued so far from the four-decade old Jilani building in the Patel Compound, Narpoli, which crashed around 3.45 a.m. on Monday morning.
Catching all the victims unaware as they slept in their homes, the local rescue teams and the NDRF along with a Dog Squad saved over two dozen lives, and at least 10 others injured were admitted to various hospitals.
The BNMC late on Monday suspended two civic officials Sudham Jadhav and Dudhnath Yadav in connection with the crash while the Narpoli Police has registered an offence against the builder Syed Ahmed Jilani, and others responsible for the tragedy.
Thane Guardian Minister and Urban Development Minister Eknath Sinde has ordered a probe into the lapses leading to the building crash and earlier announced an ex-gratia of Rs five lakh to the kin of the dead victims and free medical treatment to the injured.
Additionally, another 102 buildings in this minority-dominated powerloom township are declared as 'dangerous' and all the residents have been evacuated as a precaution, said the minister.
This is the second and the worst building collapse in less than a month in the MMR. An eight-year old five-storey building, Tarique Gardens, had crashed on August 24 in the Mahad town of Raigad, claiming 16 lives.
( With inputs from IANS )
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