One person was killed and six others, including minors, were injured after a building collapsed in Bhiwandi town of Maharashtra's Thane district on Monday morning, a civic official said. The single-storey building, where a godown of an online goods delivery firm is located, collapsed around 10.30 am in Harihar Compound at Mankoli junction in Bhiwandi, Thane civic body's regional disaster management control cell chief Santosh Kadam said.
Personnel of the Thane district rescue force, disaster management cell and fire services officials from Bhiwandi and Thane rushed to the spot, and a team of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) arrived at noon and led the rescue and relief operation, he said. The body of a security guard, identified as 35-year-old Saurabh Tripathi, was recovered from the debris, while six persons, including three minors, were rescued from the rubble and hospitalised, Kadam said.
The 15-year-old building belongs to a private firm which uses it as a godown for online delivery of goods, he said. At the site of the collapse, 24-year-old Akhil Badana, an employee of the firm owning the godown, was at the centre of discussion after it was revealed he missed the crash by seconds as he went to answer a phone call from a neighbour.
"I had just parked my vehicle when I got a call from my neighbour. As I took the call, I saw the godown coming down. I am lucky," Badana, who works as a scanner operator, told reporters at the site. The search and rescue operation was called off late evening and a police team was at the site carrying out further probe, officials said.