Three killed as building collapses in Bhiwandi

Three persons, including an elderly couple, were killed and six others injured when a two-storey building declared as "most dangerous" by the local civic body, collapsed in Bhiwandi in the district this morning, the second such mishap in the powerloom town in a week.
At least six persons are still feared trapped in the building, officials said.
Eight injured persons were pulled out from the debris of the collapsed building, located on Khadan Road in Hanuman Tekadi locality. Out of them, building's owner Sajjanlal Mahadev Gupta (60) and his wife Satyawati Sajjan Gupta (55) died at a hospital, Resident Deputy Collector Vandana Suryavanshi said.

Later in the evening, body of Dhaniram Baburam Thakur(45) was recovered from the debris.
"The NDRF team, which is carrying out the rescue operations late this evening pulled out Thakur's body," Police spokesperson P I Sukhada Narkar said.
Two of the injured-- Ramjan Ali Ahmed Ansari (38) and Shabir Ali Mohamamd Aijim Ansari (38) are still being treated at the hospital, while others have been discharged, she added.

Meanwhile, Thane District Guardian Minister Ekanth Shinde visited the site and inspected the rescue work.
The 35-year-old building, which crashed at around 8 AM, was declared as "most dangerous", a release issued by the Bhiwandi Nizampur Municipal Corporation said.

The disaster control teams from Thane and Kalyan were rushed to the spot immediately upon receiving an alert, while local firemen were also pressed into action.
According to a spokesman of the Bhiwandi civic body, the building occupants were earlier served evacuation notices, following which two of the around 5-6 families residing there vacated the place while the others stayed back.
The water connection to the building was snapped when the occupants had refused to vacate and the power supply was also going to be cut soon, the spokesman said.
On July 31, a two-storey residential building had crashed amid heavy rains claiming eight lives, including that of four children and three women, and injuring ten others.