One labourer died while two others were injured when the slab of a warehouse fell on them at Chinch Bunder in Dongri on Monday.

The three were working on repairing the structure, which is suspected to be illegal, according to the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC).

A portion of the slab collapsed around 10 a.m., trapping the three labourers under the rubble. The single-storey building encroaches on the open space between two structures, according to the BMC. Local residents rushed to help the trapped labourers. By then, the fire brigade, police and ward staff reached the site and took two of them to JJ Hospital. The third labourer ran away before he could be helped.

Of the two others, Abdur Rashid (22) was declared brought dead, while Shabbir Shaikh (22) is critically injured and under treatment.

Kalaam Hussain Shaikh, a local who helped with the rescue, said, “We heard a crash and ran to help. All of us pulled out three people from the debris and handed them over to the police. There is a local strongman who appointed a contractor for this construction. Why is the BMC not demolishing the entire structure now?”

He said, “There was a similar collapse of the same structure just last week, but nobody was injured. What is the BMC waiting for?”

Taijul Shaikh, another labourer, said, “The repairs had been going on for two-three days. I had told these three not to go to work today as it has been raining heavily. They are from West Bengal and lived in Wadi Bunder, They would do casual labour jobs. An FIR should be filed against the contractor.”

Vinayak Vispute, assistant municipal commissioner, in-charge of B ward, said while the area has a lot of municipal buildings, this one does ont belong to the corporation. “We suspect it was completely illegal. We are investigating who built it and what work was going on there. The police are investigating too.”

The Dongri police said they are investigating the role of the building owner and contractor.