Mumbai: A five-storey residential building collapsed in Mumbai at daybreak on Friday in the latest accident in India’s financial capital, with at least 90 feared trapped inside.
The five-story residential building collapsed just after 6am near Dockyard Road in the city's southeast.
Crowds formed around the rubble of the completely flattened block, owned by the city’s civic administrative body the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation, in the east of the city.
At least one person died and seven people have been so far pulled alive from the building and rushed to hospital, said Alok Awasthi, local commander of the National Disaster Response Force.
"Approximately 80 to 90 people are believed to be left behind in the building and trapped," Awasthi said, citing reports from his team on the scene. He spoke by telephone on his way to the building site.
“My son is inside. I’m waiting for them to get him out,” distraught 62-year-old retiree Mithi Solakani told AFP as rescue workers scrambled over tonnes of debris.
Several diggers were pressed into action to lift some of the larger slabs of concrete, allowing teams of rescuers to begin the grim task of taking out bodies.
One was removed covered in dark red cloth and carried to a waiting ambulance on a stretcher. Crowds of women waiting nearby could be heard sobbing.
Local city administrator Manisha Mahiskar had earlier put the number of missing much lower, at around 20. Seven people had been pulled out alive, she said.
Five other apartment blocks have collapsed in or close to Mumbai in recent months, including one in April that killed 74 people.
They have highlighted poor quality construction and violations of the building code, caused by massive demand for housing and endemic corruption.
