Dilapidated four-storey building collapses in south Mumbai, elderly man dies

The victim has been identified as Sundara Saw. He was taken to JJ Hospital where doctors declared him dead on arrival.

A 61-year-old man died after a four-storey building collapsed in south Mumbai’s Kalbadevi area on Sunday night. The structure came crashing down around 10.30pm, sources in BMC’s Disaster Management Cell said.

The victim has been identified as Sundara Saw. He was taken to JJ Hospital where doctors declared him dead on arrival.

According to local residents, Saw was talking on the phone when the dilapidated Khanderaowadi Building No. 5, owned by Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority (MHADA), collapsed on him.

Local BJP corporator Aakash Raj Purohit said a major tragedy was averted as the building was evacuated soon after a portion of the toilet collapsed on Sunday evening. “After a portion of the toilet collapsed, the fire brigade and police were called. There were nearly 20 labourers inside the building and all of them were evacuated by the fire brigade. One family from a nearby building was also moved out as a safety measure,” Purohit said.

“However, around 10.30pm, the entire building collapsed and a man sitting next to the building while talking on the phone got stuck in the debris. He was rescued and shifted to JJ Hospital where doctors declared him dead,” he said.

Khanderao Building Number 5 was more than four decades old and was in a dilapidated condition. “The entire building was commercial and labourers from Bengal used to do gold polishing and jewellery making there,” Purohit added. The victim, Sundara Saw, used to work in one of these gold units.

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