Thane: The death toll of the Bhiwandi building collapse rises to 25 and 25 people are reportedly injured so far. Following the incident, the Bhiwandi Nizampura Municipal Corporation (BNMC) has suspended two officials for not taking any prior action which could have prevented the incident. An assistant commissioner and a junior engineer of the BNMC have been suspended following an inquiry against them.
With rescue operation going on continuously by TDRF and NDRF team since Monday early morning, the death toll is increasing, as more people are feared trapped under the debris. The part of ground plus three storey Jeelani building, occupied by around 150 residents, collapsed at around 3:40 am on Monday.
Till yesterday late, total 16 deaths were reported and 20 were injured. While till Tuesday evening the death toll had risen up to 25, and so far 25 are injured in this incident.
"Till Monday night total 36 were rescued from the debris, out these 16 were declared dead, while others were injured. After long gap since Monday night, a 32 year old Shahida Khan, was the first to be rescued from the debris on Tuesday, at around 6 am. Hence, till 9 am on Tuesday, total 4 victims were rescued, including 2.5 year old baby. All were declared dead. Till Tuesday morning the death toll climbed up to 20 and with total 25 injuries," informed a TDRF official present at the incident spot.
"After 20 total deaths were reported till Tuesday at 9 am, following a gap of 7-8 hours, another body was rescued from the debris in the evening. More three victims were rescued between every 20-30 minutes gap. Hence, till late Tuesday evening around 8 victims were rescued from the debris and all were declared dead. The rescue operation is still going on," added TDRF official.
Among the total 25 injured victims, 14 are men and 11 are women, including 4 minors, between the age group of 4 to 8 year old. While among total 23 deaths, 13 are men and 10 are women, including 10 minors between the age group of 2 to 14 year old.
BNMC suspends two civic officials for their inaction:
"Assistant commissioner, Sudam Jadhav and Junior engineer Dudhnath Yadav have been suspended till further notice, as the responsible officials didn't initiate with necessary action, evenafter no response from the residents was received after issuing warning notice twice. The inquiry committee has also been formed to carry further investigation in this matter," said Pankaj Ashiya, municipal commisioner, BNMC.
Building owner is still absconding:
"Following the incident, the case has been registered against the building's owner, Sayyed Ahmed Jeelani. However, he is still absconding, further investigation is on," said Maloji Shinde, senior police inspector, Narpoli police station, Bhiwandi.
The case has under the sections 304 (2) (culpable homicide not amounting to murder), 337 (causing hurt by act endangering life or personal safety of others) and 338 (causing grievous hurt by act endangering life or personal safety of others) of the Indian Penal Code, informed official from Narpoli police station.
