One killed as partly demolished building crashes in Mumbai (Lead, With Images)

One person was killed and two injured when three slabs of a partly demolished seven-storied building crashed here on Saturday evening, officials said.

The building, Crystal Business Park, at Chandivali in north-central Mumbai, was being demolished at the time of the incident, and some more persons are still feared trapped under the debris, said an official of BMC Disaster Control.

The victim has been identified as Gaurav, a 20-year-old labourer. The two rescued injured persons have been admitted to Rajawadi Hospital in Ghatkopar for treatment.

According to a local eyewitness P.S. Menon, the tragedy occurred when one of the four massive cranes working atop the building suddenly started wobbling and then hurtled down from the top floor of the skeletal structure.

The weight and impact of the falling crane led to at least three slabs of the building crashing down with it around 5.15 p.m., causing the remaining structure to tilt dangerously in the direction of an adjoining residential building, Woodland Heights.

"We had lodged several complaints to the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation, local police and Maharashtra Pollution Control Board on the dangerous condition of this unoccupied building in the past one year. But nobody took any action in the matter," said Menon.

Teams of Mumbai Fire Brigade and other disaster relief agencies which rushed to the site are continuing operations to rescue some more people believed to be trapped beneath the rubble.

--IANS

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