Ghatkopar hoarding collapse: Death toll rises to 17 after man receiving treatment succumbs

Pic/PTI

More than a week after the Ghatkopar hoarding collapse, on Wednesday, the death toll in the incident has risen to 17.

According to the latest information from BMC, a victim of the Ghatkopar hoarding collapse, Raju Sonawane (52) who had been receiving treatment at KEM hospital was declared dead by the treating unit on Monday night at 11 pm.

The Ghatkopar hoarding collapse incident has also left 75 people injured.

Meanwhile, an absconding director of the advertising firm which installed the collapsed hoarding in Mumbai's Ghatkopar was arrested on May 16 from Rajasthan, officials said, reported PTI.

Bhavesh Bhinde, director of Ego Media Pvt Ltd, the advertising agency behind the massive billboard that crashed onto a petrol pump in suburban Ghatkopar on May 13 evening during sudden dusty winds and unseasonal rains, was arrested from Udaipur, a police official said, reported PTI.

A team of the Mumbai police's crime branch apprehended Bhinde, who was on the run after the tragedy three days ago, he said.

The search and rescue operation at the hoarding collapse site was called off at around 10 am on May 16, an official of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) said.

The 120 feet x 120 feet billboard, which crashed during dusty winds and rains, was illegally installed and it stood on a piece of land in possession of the Government Railway Police (GRP), according to officials, reported PTI.

Meanwhile, BJP leader Kirit Somaiya alleged that no tender process was followed for the crashed hoarding and the Maharashtra government got virtually nothing from the contract while the owner earned more than Rs 100 crore in revenue, reported PTI.

Bhinde got the permission to install the billboard only because he was close to MLA Sunil Raut, brother of Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut, he alleged.

"The revenue from the hoarding was over Rs 100 crore, the revenue from the fuel station (on which it collapsed) was Rs 25 crore. The state government gets nothing. Couple of crores transferred to Maharashtra police Kalyan Nidhi (welfare fund)," Somaiya claimed in a letter written to deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis seeking a thorough inquiry.

"There were massive irregularities, illegality and lack of transparency in the setting up of the petrol pump and grant of permission to Bhinde's Ego Media to erect the hoarding," Somaiya told reporters.

(With inputs from PTI)