Mumbai: Seven hurt as 2 houses collapse at Antop Hill

The debris of the collapsed houses, at Antop Hill, on Tuesday. Pics/Atul Kamble

Seven people were injured after two houses with a common wall collapsed at Antop Hill in Wadala on Tuesday morning. While five of them were admitted to Sion hospital, two others refused hospitalisation. The exact reason for the collapse was unclear, but the local corporator said such structures do not have a strong foundation.

After the incident was reported, the Mumbai Fire Brigade (MFB) reached the spot along with four fire engines, one rescue van, JCB and 20 labourers. They rescued nine people from under the debris.

Workers remove debris of the collapsed houses, at Antop Hill in Wadala, on Tuesday

"Two families - the Mishras and the Sharmas - were living there. Four members of the Mishra family and one member from the Sharma family were among the injured who were admitted to a hospital," said Mangesh Satamkar, a local corporator. Out of the five, Amit Mishra, 23, Surendra Mishra, 59, and Punam Sharma, 28, were under OPD treatment.

The exact reason of the collapse was unclear, but Satamkar said that though the buildings were not more than 10 to 12 years old, such structures don't have a strong foundation to withstand for long. While the permissible height for slum structures is 14 feet in Mumbai, most buildings exceed the limit, even the structures are not strong, BMC officials said.

A man carries a gas cylinder out of one of the collapsed houses

Between 2013 and 2019, 2,704 incidents of complete or partial house collapse have occurred, in which 234 people have died and 840 others injured. On June 8, 2021, a three-storey illegal structure built on the collector's land in Malwani area of Malad West had collapsed on another two-storey structure and a shop. Twelve people, including eight children, were killed and seven others injured.

02
No. of injured who refused to be hospitalised

20
No. of labourers deployed at Antop Hill site