Eight persons, including two minors, were injured after a two-storey building caved in at Pune’s Mundhwa area on Saturday noon.
All injured were safely evacuated from the debris and are presently undergoing treatment at the city’s Sassoon General Hospital, police sources said.
The mishap occurred at Mundhwa’s Keshavnagar area between 12 and 12.30 p.m. when the house, belonging to one Kailash Subhash Bhandwalkar (in his 50s), suddenly collapsed.
Mr. Bhandwalkar, along with his wife Aruna, and his two daughters were living on the first floor, while the ground floor was inhabited by tenants.
“While Fire Brigade officials rushed to the spot, alert passersby immediately alerted the 108 Ambulance (State Emergency Medical Services) which promptly dispatched three vehicles to transport those trapped to hospitals within an hour of the mishap. A police team, too, immediately joined in the rescue operations. All injured are out of danger,” said senior Police Inspector Anil Patrudkar of the Mundhwa police station, speaking to The Hindu .
Mr. Patrudkar further said that a five-year-old child, who was trapped for a while, was safely brought out.
It is believed that Mr. Bhandwalkar had a dairy business. The rescue teams are in the process of bringing out some of the animals trapped inside.
Mr. Patrudkar further said the Pune Municipal Corporation had recently given a warning to the building’s occupants to evacuate the premises as the building was in a decrepit condition. “A notice issued by the PMC was apparently ignored by the inhabitants, who continued to reside despite the parlous condition of the building” he said.
