At least four people were killed and 64 injured after a large advertising hoarding collapsed onto a petrol pump in Mumbai amid sudden rain and strong winds on Monday evening. The incident occurred around 4:30 p.m. near Chheda Nagar Gymkhana in the Ghatkopar area.
The National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) team is on-site, conducting rescue operations at the Ghatkopar hoarding collapse incident. The injured individuals have been transported to Rajawadi Hospital in Ghatkopar for treatment.
Maharashtra CM Eknath Shinde arrived at the Ghatkopar hoarding collapse incident to take stock of the situation. “Rescuing the people is our priority. Government will take care of the treatment of those who are injured in the incident. Rs 5 lakh will be given to the family of those who have lost their lives. I have directed the concerned authorities to audit for all such hoardings in Mumbai,” CM said.
Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) Commissioner Bhushan Gagrani said, "64 people have been admitted to Rajawadi Hospital in Ghatkopar. One is in critical condition and a total of four people have died in this incident."
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“We suspect 20-30 more people trapped under that hoarding which collapsed in Ghatkopar. A total of eight people died in the incident. Rescue is underway," he added.
Maharashtra Deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis said, “There will be an investigation regarding what kind of permission they have for this hoarding, whether they had this permission or not... The CM has directed that a proper audit of all the hoardings in Mumbai be done by BMC to mitigate such incidents in future. Whovever has done this kind of ignorance, strict action will be taken against them."
Eyewitness Swapnil Khupte said, "I was there when a big hoarding of some builder fell down, all the cars, bikes and people that were there got stuck. We helped people get out and somehow manage to escape."
Family member of one of the injured said, "One of our neighbors has got injured in the incident. I received a call from him. We immediately reached the incident site. He is badly injured..."
Additionally, due to inclement weather and a dust storm, Mumbai airport suspended flight operations for approximately one hour, leading to at least 15 diversions. The India Meteorological Department has forecasted sustained strong winds in certain areas for the next four hours and advised people to exercise caution.