A tragic building collapse late Tuesday night in Virar has claimed two lives and left several others injured, with rescue operations still underway under extremely challenging conditions.
Officials confirmed that the rear portion of Ramabai Apartment, a four-storey residential building in the Chandansar area, suddenly gave way around 11:30 pm, crashing onto an adjoining chawl and trapping multiple residents beneath the rubble.
Teams from the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), the Fire Department, and the Vasai Virar Municipal Corporation launched an immediate rescue mission. NDRF Deputy Commander Pramod Singh said two specialized teams — one from Mumbai and another from Palghar — rushed to the site after receiving the alert at midnight.
“Two teams of the NDRF responded to the accident site. One team is from Mumbai and one from Palghar. As soon as the information was received at 12 am, the nearest team responded. In the primary manual and canine search, four people were pulled out. Among them, one was dead, and three were rescued alive. A one-year-old child died on the way to the hospital. Eleven people have been rescued so far,” Singh confirmed.
Authorities identified the deceased as 24-year-old Aarohi Omkar Jovil and one-year-old Utkarsha Jovil.
Those injured include Prabhakar Shinde (57), Pramila Shinde (50), Prerna Shinde (20), Vishakha Jovil (24), Manthan Shinde (19), and Sanjoy Singh (24), who are undergoing treatment at local hospitals. Others, including Pradeep Kadam (40), Jayashree Kadam (33), and Mitali Parmar (28), were discharged after receiving first aid.
Rescue teams fear that at least five more people may still be trapped inside the debris. However, the narrow lanes surrounding the collapsed site have made it impossible to deploy heavy machinery, forcing workers to rely solely on manual operations. “The rescue may continue today and tomorrow. All the work has to be done manually as the way to the building is narrow,” Singh added.
So far, 11 individuals have been pulled out alive and shifted to hospitals in Virar and Nala Sopara, while the search continues amid mounting anxiety among relatives gathered at the site.
