One person died and over 15 suffered injuries after a five-storeyed residential building collapsed in Maharashtra's Raigad district on Monday.
Around 70 people are feared trapped in the debris after the building, which was around 10 years old, collapsed at Kajalpura in Mahad tehsil around 7 pm, an official said.
There were around 45 flats in the building, the official said, adding 25 persons have been rescued and shifted to a local hospital at Mahad, which is around 170 km from Mumbai.
Teams of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) have been moved to the spot for rescue operations.
Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray spoke to the district officials and asked them to expedite the rescue and relief work, another official said.
Local Shiv Sena MLA Bharat Gogawale said that the NDRF has so far rescued 25 people from this collapsed building debris. He said that the cause of the collapse has not yet ascertained. “Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray has called and ensured all help to rescue all these trapped people. There is no proper light so generators are used to flash the light and search the trapped people. The rescue operation is in full swing. So far, no report of casualty yet,” said Shiv Sena MLA.
Sunil Tatkare, the local NCP MP said that he is in touch with the local administration and spoken with the district collector as well.
A viral video of the collapse showed a plume of dust rising from where the building had stood.
Another video showed police trying to control several onlookers gathered at the collapse site.
(With ENS inputs)