Mumbai Chawl Collapse: Six Dead in Mankhurd Amid Heavy Rains

Six people died and one sustained injuries after a three-storey chawl collapsed in Mankhurd, Mumbai, amid heavy rains on Sunday night. The structure, identified as Chawl No. 5 in the Mandala locality of Janta Nagar, caved in at around 8.30 pm on July 5, PTI reported.

The victims include five minors and one adult. Rescuers extracted all six bodies from the debris, and the injured person remains in stable condition. The overnight multi-agency search and rescue operation concluded early Monday.

"No further missing persons are believed to be trapped under the rubble," Maharashtra State Minister Girish Mahajan and NDRF Assistant Commandant Sarang Kurve told PTI.

Details of the Collapse

The incident occurred behind Hanuman Mandir in the Mandala locality. Two to three tenements forming part of the three-storey structure caved in. The falling debris collapsed onto an adjoining hut situated on the collector's land.

Emergency responders immediately launched search efforts. Teams included the Mumbai Fire Brigade, police officers, the BMC ward office, '108' ambulance services and the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF).

Four women and a man were brought dead to the civic-run Shatabdi Hospital. Another man was declared dead at Rajawadi Hospital, where the lone injured man received treatment. Local BJP corporator Navnath Ban said that heavy rains severely hampered the initial rescue operations, as per news reports.

Severe Rainfall and Alerts

Mumbai's eastern suburbs recorded an average of 217 mm of rainfall in the 24 hours ending at 8.00 am on July 5. Vikhroli West registered the highest accumulation at 310.6 mm. In the subsequent 24-hour period ending at 5.00 pm on Sunday, the suburbs received an average of 121 mm of rain, according to reports.

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) and the India Meteorological Department (IMD) issued a Red Alert for extremely heavy rainfall on July 5. Authorities followed this with an Orange Alert and a subsequent Red nowcast warning on July 6.

The BMC also issued specific high tide warnings. The civic body informed residents about a 4.19-metre tide at 3.22 pm on July 5 and a 3.51-metre tide at 3.41 am on July 6, advising the public to avoid coastlines entirely.