Building collapse in Mumbai: At least 13 people dead

At least 13 people were reported dead and many more are feared trapped after a building collapsed in Mumbai, India.

The incident occurred on July, 16, 2019, in the Dongri neighborhood. "The building collapsed in front of my eyes...it completely collapsed to the ground," a local resident who lives across the street, stated.

The failure happened during the Monsoon season. According to officials, the rainfalls have been the most intense the city has experienced for more than a decade. The causes of the failure have not been clarified yet. The building is very old (about 100 years old) but it was re-developed in 2017. Nevertheless, it is unknown whether the renovation works have deteriorated the building's integrity. 15 families used to live inside the structure.

Devendra Fadnavis, Chief Minister of Maharashtra State, stated that the standards for re-development works in old buildings will soon change to avoid similar incidents.

Emergency crews were immediately dispatched to the scene but they had to face a significant challenge. The streets in Dongri neighborhood are very narrow and therefore fire vehicles and ambulances could not approach the site. "Tandel street, where the building stood, is so narrow that only one person can walk through it comfortably at a time," said Mayuresh Konnur, a journalist for BBC world service. Consequently, the rescue operations were conducted by fire-fighters and workers who managed to pull 10 people out the rubble. 

The collapse may have affected the stability of nearby buildings which were immediately evacuated. 

According to the MHADA (Maharashtra Housing Area Development Authority), the building was, at some point, illegally expanded, a fact that may have affected its stability. MHADA has announced that it will be soon demolished. "The MHADA has initiated the process to demolish the Kesarbai building, which has further weakened after its illegal portion collapsed on Tuesday," Vinod Ghosalkar, chairman of the repair board of MHADA, stated.