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Building Collapse In Thane Wipes Out Two Families

A Birthday Ends In Tragedy; Thane Building Collapse Wipes Out Two Families
PTI

Barely 24 hours after two families came together to celebrate a five-year-old girl's birthday, it ended in tragedy. Twelve people have died in Mumbai after a ground-plus-three-storey building collapsed late Monday night. The incident was reported in Thane city.

Several others are reported injured.

On Sunday, two families had come together to celebrate 5-year-old Anaya's birthday. The next day, nine members of these two families, including Anaya, were among those killed.

This incident comes to light merely a week after another two-storey building collapsed in Thakurli in Thane district.

According to an Indian Express report, the building, Krishna Niwas, in B Cabin area close to Thane railway station, housed five families in its third floor.

Of them, the Sawants and the Bhats were very close and both families had gathered on Sunday to celebrate Anaya's birthday.

Now Anaya's father, Amit Khot, 34, a software professional is the only surviving member of the Sawant family.

"After a great evening, they were planning to return to Ghatkopar. Since it was already late, they decided to spend the night in Thane. But then it was all over," one of the Sawant's relative told Mumbai Mirror.

Officials said the building came crashing down around 2 am. A security guard who worked in a neighbouring building told Hindustan Times that he heard a loud noise and then saw the structure crumble in a matter of about five seconds.

It was a tragic moment for the Patel family who resided in the building too.

When the building collapsed, 14-year-old Priya was sleeping next to her father Amritlal. "I could hear Priya screaming for help, but could not do anything," Priya's father told reporters.

The Patels lived on the first floor of the building.

Amritlal said he kept talking to his daughter in the hope that she doesn't give up. "However, she soon fell silent...," he told Mirror.

A team from the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) reached the spot around 4.30 am and the rescue operation went on till 10.30 am on Tuesday morning. The NDRf personnel had two sniffer dogs with them.

“We saved 15 residents. Two people were saved because our dogs sniffed them out," an NDRF official told Indian Express.

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This article exists as part of the online archive for HuffPost India, which closed in 2020. Some features are no longer enabled. If you have questions or concerns about this article, please contact indiasupport@huffpost.com.