A 10-year-old girl died after all the six rooms of a chawl in Pendhar village at Taloja MIDC collapsed around 8 a.m. on Tuesday.
The girl has been identified as Hina Munna Harijan. Her brother Santosh (12), sisters Ashifa (4) and Anupama (3), who were also in the chawl with her suffered injuries. They were admitted to Shree Sai Hospital at Taloja MIDC and were discharged by evening.
Their parents were away to visit a doctor when the incident occurred.
The chawl, a ground-plus-one structure, had around 25 residents till two days ago. “A wall adjoining the chawl had collapsed two days ago after which the owner asked all the tenants to vacate it due to its dilapidated condition,” Dashrath Bhandari, ward officer of the area, said.
This family could not move out as they were searching for another room. On Tuesday morning, the mother, Lalidevi, who had acidity problems, had gone with her husband to see the doctor. They were also planning to look at some rooms for their relocation.
According to the police, a portion of the roof first collapsed on Hina and then the remaining part fell off.
Senior police inspector Kashinath Chavan from Taloja police station said, “Prima facie, it doesn’t seem like a case of negligence. Hence, we have filed a case of accidental death. After getting the reports from the Panvel Municipal Corporation (PMC) and the fire brigade, we will take further action if needed.”
Built in 1972, the chawl faced leakages during monsoon. “The PMC had never issued any notice to the structure,” Mr. Bhandari said.
Fire brigade personnel from the PMC cleared the debris at the collapse site.
