Mumbai, August 26: An 85-year-old woman, who was seriously injured when a portion of a four-storey residential building collapsed in south Mumbai, has died but a 25-day-old baby miraculously survived over 20 hours.
Yusuf Manzil at Lamington Road caved in last evening after one of its main pillars, weakened by unauthorised construction by a shop on the ground floor of the building, collapsed, fire brigade officials said.
Most of the tenants were out offering Ramzan prayers and thus escaped unhurt. However, the landlady of the building, Zubeida Khambati, who suffered grievous head injuries, died at the nearby Nair Hospital late last night.
Five others who were rescued from the under the rubble suffered minor injuries and were treated at the hospital. Among those was a 25-day-old baby.
“The baby and the family were stuck on the second floor while the remaining portion of the house hung precariously. While they were rescued with a ladder, others escaped from the back of the building,” officials said.
A case of culpable homicide not amounting to murder has been registered against the shop owner and he would be arrested soon, police said.
“Despite repeated instructions from MHADA and BMC to stop the construction work, the owner failed to do so which has led to the collapse,” Deputy Commissioner of Police Sanjay Mohite told PTI.
–PTI–