At least 8 dead in residential building collapse in India

A residential building that was due for repairs collapsed in central India early Monday, killing at least eight people, officials said.

At least 11 people were injured when the building collapsed, said Pankaj Ashiya, the commissioner of Bhiwandi in Thane district, a suburb of India's financial capital Mumbai.

He said that the building was over 30 years old and needed repairs, which couldn't be carried out due to the coronavirus lockdown.

Maharashtra is one of India's hardest hit states by the virus with over a million reported cases. India has reported over 5 million coronavirus cases.

India's National Disaster Response Force said that the building had collapsed at around 4 a.m. Building collapses are common in India during the June-September monsoon season, when heavy rains weaken the foundations of structures that are poorly constructed or old.

The building had 40 flats and around 150 persons lived in it, an official said.

The building was not in the list of dilapidated structures of the Bhiwandi-Nizampur Municipal Corporation.

An eyewitness said local residents rushed to the spot immediately after the collapse and helped pull out some persons from the debris.

The power supplyto the locality was snapped as a precautionary measure, the official said, adding the injured have been admitted to local hospitals.

Thane: Survivors salvage their belongings after a three storeyed building collapsed, at Bhiwandi in Thane district.