Agencies

Mumbai, June 10:

The rescuers are searching for survivors in Mumbai’s Malad after a residential structure collapsed in the area. Eleven dead bodies have been recovered and seven others are injured.

The incident happened at 11pm on Wednesday and the collapse engulfed a nearby residential structure, according to BrihanMumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC). The civic body also said that residents from three nearby buildings were evacuated as structures were not in good condition.

“15 people including women and children have been rescued and are shifted to the hospital. There is a possibility of more people stuck under the debris. Teams are present here to rescue people,” ANI quoted Vishal Thakur, Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) Zone 11, Mumbai as saying.

Maharashtra minister Aslam Shaikh, who reached the incident site, said that the collapse happened due to rain. The injured persons have been shifted to BDBA hospital, he added.

Heavy rains lashed Mumbai and its suburbs on Wednesday, causing flooding on roads and rail tracks and disrupting suburban train services as the south-west monsoon arrived in the city.

The India Meteorological Department (IMD) issued a ‘red alert’ for Mumbai, and neighbouring Thane, Palghar and Raigad districts, warning of very heavy to extremely heavy rainfall at isolated places there.

The waterlogging caused by the monsoon season’s first rains prompted the traffic police to shut four subways and forced motorists to abandon their vehicles on roads.