Saturday, 01 June 2024
Saturday, 01 June 2024
The National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), which is engaged in the search and rescue operation at the hoarding collapse site in Mumbai's Ghatkopar, said the number of casualties going up in the tragedy cannot be ruled out as the chances of finding survivors are slim. Two teams of the NDRF along with the fire brigade and police have been working relentlessly since the last two days to rescue the people trapped under the billboard that collapsed on a petrol pump in Chheda Nagar area of Ghatkopar on May 13 evening due to gusty winds and unseasonal rains.
So far, the search and rescue teams have pulled out 89 persons from under the collapsed hoarding, of whom 14 were declared dead while 75 others were injured. Two more bodies have been located under the debris, but they are yet to be pulled out, officials said.
"Heavy machinery has been deployed for clearing and lifting the steel structure and girder of the billboard that collapsed on the petrol pump and a parking lot," an NDRF official said. On May 15 morning, a small fire broke out at the incident site during the operation, but it was immediately doused by the fire tenders deployed there, another NDRF official earlier said.
The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) on May 14 appointed an expert from the city-based Veermata Jijabai Technological Institute (VJTI) to find the reasons behind the hoarding collapse in Ghatkopar that claimed 14 lives. As per a preliminary observation, "foundation failure" could be the reason for the collapse of the 120 x 120 feet hoarding erected on a piece of land in possession of the Government Railway Police, said a BMC official.
The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) on May 14 started taking down the remaining hoardings on Government Railway Police (GRP) land at Chheda Nagar in the eastern part of Mumbai, where 14 people lost their lives after a billboard collapsed during a dust storm, an official said. The BMC had earlier said that it issued a notice to M/s Ego Media Private Limited for installing the hoarding that collapsed on the petrol pump, and the police have registered a case against the company's owner, Bhavesh Bhinde, and others for culpable homicide not amounting to murder.
During the search on May 13 night, three girders of the hoarding were pulled using two hydraulic cranes, and nine people were found trapped inside some four-wheelers underneath. These nine people were rushed to the hospital, where they were declared dead before admission, an official said.
