Toll rises to seven in Thane lift collapse

Pic/PTI

One more labourer has succumbed to injuries following a lift collape at an under-construction 40-storey building in Maharashtra's Thane city, raising the death toll in the incident to seven, a civic official told news agency PTI on Monday.

Labourer Sunil Kumar (21) was pulled out alive from the basement parking of the building after the incident on Sunday evening. He was rushed to a hospital where he died of his injuries late Sunday night, Thane Municipal Corporation's disaster management cell chief Yasin Tadvi told PTI.

A case has been registered against the contractor under Indian Penal Code sections 304(2) (rash and negligent act), 337 (causing hurt by act endangering life or personal safety of others) and 338 (causing grievous hurt by act endangering life or personal safety of others), senior police inspector Uttam Sonawane from Kapurbawdi police station told PTI.

The construction lift in the 40-storey building located in Balkum area off the Ghodbunder Road collapsed on Sunday evening.

It was a construction lift and not the regular elevator, Tadvi told PTI on Sunday.

"The workers had finished water-proofing work and entered the lift at the 40th floor when the lift came crashing down at around 7.30 pm and landed in P3 (three levels underground in the parking area)," he said.

Prima facie, one of the supporting cables of the construction lift snapped, leading to the incident, the official told PTI.

A team of the regional disaster management cell and fire brigade personnel rushed to the spot and pulled out the workers from the basement parking. It was not yet clear how the lift cable malfunctioned, Tadvi told PTI.

The deceased labourers have been identified as Mahendra Choupal (32), Rupesh Kumar Das (21), Harun Sheikh (47), Mithlesh Vishwakarma (35), Kari Das (38), and Navin Vishwakarma.

Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has expressed his condolences to the families of the deceased in the incident.

"Shocking! The lift accident in Thane is very tragic. I express my deepest condolences to the families of the deceased who lost lives in this accident. Wishing speedy recovery to the injured ones," Devendra Fadnavis said in a post on social media platform, X.

(With inputs from PTI)