Mumbai building collapse kills at least 19 with more feared trapped

Rescue workers and firefighters search for survivors at the site of a collapsed residential building in Mumbai, India, June 28, 2022. REUTERS/Niharika Kulkarni

A four-storey residential building collapsed in India's financial capital of Mumbai overnight, killing at least 19 people, with more feared trapped under the rubble, officials said on Tuesday.

Part of the building, located in a crowded suburb in the central part of the city, crumbled around midnight on Monday, the city's civic body BMC said.

Rescue workers were working to pull out debris and rubble until late on Tuesday. Heavy rain hampered the work.

Rescue workers remove debris from the site of a collapsed residential building in Mumbai, India, June 28, 2022. REUTERS/Niharika Kulkarni

Building collapses are common in Mumbai during monsoon season, mostly due to poor construction.

More than a dozen people were injured in the accident, of which 10 were discharged from hospitals after treatment, the BMC said.

"People living in the building were asked to vacate the houses five to six years ago. Every year a notice was sent to them, but no one left," said Suvrana Bansode, a resident living close to the building that collapsed.

Relatives react on seeing the body of a victim after it was recovered from the rubble at the site of a collapsed residential building in Mumbai, India, June 28, 2022. REUTERS/Niharika Kulkarni

(Reporting by Shilpa Jamkhandikar and Niharika Kulkarni; Editing by Nick Macfie and Edmund Blair)