Six Dead Including Five Children in Mankhurd Building Collapse
Six people, including a woman and five children, were killed when an illegal four-storey building collapsed onto adjoining shanties at Chawl No. 5, Galli No. 7, near Noori Masjid in the Mandala area of Mankhurd on Sunday night.
The deceased were identified as Akhtar Jahan, 38, and her four children: Kaisar Jaha, 14, Jalaluddin Moinuddin, 9, Serajuddin Shah, 7, and Anabiya Shah, 3. A neighbour’s child, six-year-old Aliya Allauddin Shaikh, who was visiting the home to play, also died in the incident.
Akhtar’s husband, Moinuddin Wajid Ali Shah, 39, escaped the disaster by minutes as he had stepped out to purchase household items. The family had been living in the shanty, which was made of tin sheets and a patra roof, for the past two years.
A larger loss of life was averted because three families living inside the illegal building evacuated earlier on Sunday. According to local residents, the building had started tilting and its tiles began crumbling on Sunday morning, prompting the occupants to vacate the premises.
Ishtiyaq Ahmed, a neighbour and family friend, said residents asked the families to vacate after noticing these signs of distress. Later that night, the structure came crashing down, triggering panic in the neighbourhood.
Local residents assisted in the rescue operations despite heavy rain, concrete debris, and metal angles. The victims were pulled from the rubble and rushed to Shatabdi and Rajawadi hospitals, where they were declared dead. A passerby, 24-year-old Rehan Ali, was trapped under the debris and sustained injuries, but is currently in stable condition.
Mumbai Mayor Ritu Tawde inspected the site on Monday and stated that the structure was completely illegal and functioned as a godown. Following the collapse, rickety buildings next to the collapsed structure were evacuated as a precautionary measure.
Officials from the Mumbai Collector’s office stated that the building stood on suburban collector’s land but no notices had been served, as the Slum Rehabilitation Authority had surveyed the pre-2011 encroachment.
Following the incident, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis announced financial assistance of Rs 5 lakh for the kin of the deceased. The Mumbai Police have arrested two persons and named four people, including government officials and private persons, in an FIR registered on Monday.
