A teenager was killed and 15 others were injured after a retaining wall collapsed on a cluster of hutments in the Mumbai suburb of Mulund in the early hours of Saturday.
According to civic officials, the incident occurred at around 1.30 a.m. on Saturday in Mulund’s Shanti Nagar area.
The officials said that the wall around the Tansa pipeline collapsed suddenly and came crashing down on the slope next to it, crushing seven hutments. The wall is several decades old and has been deterirorating for a long time. It is believed to have further weakened due to incessant rain over the past few days.
Obstacles for rescuersA few residents of the area who managed to get out from underneath the debris sounded an alarm, and residents of nearby areas informed the police and the fire brigade and rushed to help.
Officials said that as the area is a woody one, tree branches and stones also come crashing down the slope, making the rescue work all the more challenging.
In all, 16 people were pulled out from underneath the rubble and rushed to the Agarwal Hospital in Mulund, where one of them, Prashant Jadhav (18) was declared dead. “The area is among the landslide prone locations in the city, as it is located on a steep slope. Residents of the slum had been issued a notice by the Forest department, asking them to relocate when the monsoons began,” a civic official said.
The Mulund police have registered an Accidental Death Report in connection with Mr. Jadhav’s death.