Raigad, Maharashtra:

One person has died and 25 are still feared trapped under the debris after a residential building collapsed in Maharashtra’s Raigad district on Monday evening. Sixty people have been rescued, officials said this morning. The rescue operation has been going on for more than 12 hours. 

Three teams of the NDRF (National Disaster Response Force) and 12 teams of the fire brigade are at the spot. The five-storey building, which was about 10 years old, had over 45 flats. 

Home Minister Amit Shah described the incident as “tragic” in a tweet on Monday and said that he has spoken to SN Pradhan, the chief of the disaster response force to provide all possible assistance.

The collapse of a building in Raigad, Maharashtra is very tragic. Have spoken to DG @NDRFHQ to provide all possible assistance, teams are on the way and will be assisting with the rescue operations as soon as possible. Praying for everyone’s safety.

— Amit Shah (@AmitShah) August 24, 2020

Visuals from this morning showed the rescue teams at the spot. In a video tweeted by the NDRF, sniffer dogs were also seen assisting the officials. Another footage shows the area around the spot covered in a huge cloud of dust as a part of the building collapsed to the ground.

Two state ministers – Aaditya Thackeray and Eknath Shinde – visited the accident site yesterday. 

A case has been registered against the contractor of the building – Yunus Shaikh and the architect. 

“The contractor is responsible for the disaster and a case has been registered against him. Also, if any government officials are involved in this, strict action will be taken against them,” Mr Shinde said. 

A probe into the incident will begin after the rescue operations are over.

Those who suffered serious injuries are being taken to state capital Mumbai, about 60 km away, for treatment. 

Last month, heavy rain in Mumbai caused the collapse of a multi-storey building, killing nine people and injuring several others.