BHIWANDI : The death toll in the Bhiwandi building collapse, which took place here on Monday, has risen to 41, the National Disaster Relief Force (NDRF) reported Wednesday.
A total of 25 people have been rescued so far, the NRDF added.
The three-story building collapsed around 3:40 a.m. Monday in the Patel compound area in the Thane district.
Shortly after the incident, the NDRF, firefighters and police teams arrived at the scene and carried out rescue operations.
Two civic officials were suspended in connection with the collapse and an offense was reported against the building’s owner, the official said.
The building in the town of powerloom, which is about 10 km from Thane, had 40 apartments and about 150 people lived there, the official said.
The building, located in Narpoli’s Patel complex near Dhamankar Naka, collapsed as residents slept.
Teams from the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and Thane Disaster Response Force (TDRF) personnel are still at the scene as the search operation continues, he said.
The building was not on the Bhiwandi-Nizampur Municipal Corporation list of dilapidated structures, an official said.
The dead include 18 children in the age group two to 15, including three young children, an official said. The bodies recovered from the rubble were mutilated and highly decomposed, having lain there for more than 50 hours, he said.
President Ram Nath Kovind and Prime Minister Narendra Modi have lamented the loss of life in the incident.
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