Festivities took a tragic turn at Bapu Khote street, Pydhonie in the wee hours of Thursday morning. The residents of the area were decorating the precinct on the eve of Id-e-Goshiya, when a 70-year-old cessed Mhada building collapsed like a pack of cards, killing four people and injuring 15.
Fatima Ibrahim Khatri, 63, Salman Abdul Khatri, 45, Zaheer Majid Ali Khan 25, and Sikandar Baul, 22, succumbed in the mishap. Five individuals are in critical state and are recuperating at the JJ hospital.
The four-storey ‘Rahim manzil’ collapsed around am. Around 15 people were trapped under the debris when the portion of the building crumbled down.
“We were cleaning the area and putting up lights across the roads, within two seconds the building collapsed. It was impossible to decipher what occurred. The area was full of smoke as if bundles of crackers had been busted. Everybody rushed when we heard people shouting for help,” said Farida Siddiqui, a neighbour.
The residential building had sixteen houses where five families lived. The ground floor of the structure housed a marble shop which was run by Salman Khatri. Seven workers were sleeping inside the shop at the time of tragedy.
The deceased Khan and Baul were employees of the shop.”Salman lived on the fourth floor. He was trying to come out when the building gave in. Fatima had already slept so she got stuck inside,” informed Haji Yusuf Khatri.
The collapsed building smashed Khatri family’s car and two bikes. Eight fire engines and cranes carried out the rescue operation. The task to remove the injured continued till 6am.
The residents added the building had not been repaired for 35 years. Mhada officials said the residents were served notice to vacate the structure in September 2010.
“We had persuaded the people to vacate so that it could be repaired,” said a Mhada official. Moreover 10 other buildings in the precinct have also been served the vacate notice. The two adjacent buildings have been evacuated. The families have been shifted to a transit camps in Dharavi.
All hell breaks loose
State guardian minister Jayant Patil said, “There are over 16,000 dilapidated buildings which can fall at any moment. An action plan to relocate the people and carry out repairs will be framed,” he said.
Shamsher Pathan senior police inspector of the Pydhonie police station said that matter will be investigated after taking relevant information from BMC and Mhada
