The death toll in the collapse of an administrative building at the Moshi waste-processing unit near Pune rose to nine after rescue teams recovered the body of the last missing person in the early hours of Sunday, bringing the nearly five-day search operation to an end.
The body of Waman Kasbe, the last person reported missing after the July 8 collapse, was pulled out from the debris, officials said. Fourteen others were rescued from the site.
The three-storey administrative building of the Waste-to-Energy (WTE) plant, operated by the Pimpri Chinchwad Municipal Corporation, had collapsed after a massive mound of garbage adjacent to the structure gave way and crashed onto it like a landslide.
Meanwhile, a senior official of the waste-processing company described the incident as an "act of God".
Speaking to reporters on Saturday evening after meeting the families of the victims, Mahendra Ananthula, Group President, Antony Waste Group, expressed grief over the loss of lives, saying those killed and injured were "part of our family".
"This was something like an act of God, a natural calamity. Somehow we could not, no one can predict it. The kind of rainfall witnessed over the last four to five days could not have been predicted. Similar incidents have occurred in different parts of the country over the past week," he said.
Ananthula said the company would bear the entire medical expenses of those injured in the incident.
He also announced a compensation package of Rs 25 lakh for the family of each deceased victim through the company's contribution and insurance policy.
In addition, the company will offer a full-time job to one immediate family member of each deceased person and bear the education expenses of their minor children, he said.
(With inputs from PTI)
