Two more bodies were recovered on Monday, raising the death toll to eight, from the debris of a building, which collapsed in Bhiwandi of Maharashtra’s Thane district.
On April 29, a 10-year-old two-storey building, which had a warehouse on the ground and first floor –– where food items were made –– and four families were residing on the second floor, had collapsed.
On Monday, the bodies were identified as Dinesh Tiwari (34) and Ashok Kumar Mishra (32), in a joint operation by teams of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), Thane Disaster Response Force, and the Bhiwandi tehsildar.
The building’s owner, Indrapal Patil, was arrested on Sunday by the Narpoli police and has been booked for culpable homicide not amounting to murder, causing hurt by act endangering life or personal safety, causing grievous hurt and mischief causing damage as per the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde had visited the site and injured persons at Indira Gandhi memorial hospital, terming the incident as “most unfortunate”. He also announced a compensation of ₹5 lakh each to the kin of the deceased and said medical expenses of the injured would be borne by the State government
Mr. Shinde also instructed the Thane Collector to carry out a survey of the structures declared ‘most dangerous’ in the district and shift people living in them to safer places before the onset of monsoon.
