Mumbai building collapse kills two, injures several; rescuers search for victims
Excavators clear debris as rescue workers look for trapped people after a residential building collapsed in Mumbai on June 10, 2013. An apartment block collapsed in central Mumbai on Monday evening, killing at least one person with more feared trapped inside, police said, on the second day of heavy monsoon rains in the city. Four diggers and a crowd of people were gathered around a high mound of rubble — the remains of half of the five-storey building that caved in.
At least two people are dead and several injured after an apartment collapsed in central Mumbai on Monday evening.
The partially-constructed four-story building in the Mahim neighborhood caved in after the second day of torrential monsoon rains.
"Rescue operations are on, but they are difficult due to the heavy rain," a police inspector told AFP.
Rescuers are using diggers to sift through the rubble in search of victims who may still be trapped beneath. It is feared that 20 people may be buried in the ruins. Other reports put the number at around a dozen people believed trapped, mainly elderly people and children.
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Five people have been rescued from the debris so far, reported NDTV.
NDTV also reported that two people, instead of one, were killed in Monday's tragedy.
The collapse comes just two months after another building in Mumbai caved in, killing 74 people.
AFP reported that the recent tragedies highlight bad building standards in India that lack safety inspections and are rife with corruption.
Al Jazeera said there were at least 16 apartments in the building with a car showroom on the bottom level.
Migration to Mumbai has strained the city's housing market, with illegal, ill-planned settlements springing up on the outskirts of the city.
It is still unclear if Monday's collapse was an illegal settlement.