Not less than twelve people have died and at least 60 injured after a billboard at a petrol station collapsed during a severe storm in Mumbai, India’s financial capital, officials said on Monday.
According to Gaurav Chauhan, an inspector with the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), eight bodies have since been removed from the wreckage and four others are still buried in the rubble,
“We have located them but we cannot remove them due to this petrol pump and the situation can be hazardous,” he said.
Devendra Fadnavis, the deputy chief minister of Maharashtra state, stated that the injured were being treated at Rajawadi Hospital. A “high-level inquiry has been ordered into the incident,” Fadnavis wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter.
As of yesterday, an excavator dug through the wreckage as rescuers struggled to find any survivors trapped under the collapsed billboard, which measured 70 by 50 meters.
The collapse of the billboard may be connected to the Monsoon season, and in this season, India experiences heavy rains and severe flooding. The monsoon season starts between June and September and it ushers in most of South Asia’s annual rainfall.
Although, the rains are necessary for rain-fed crops that are planted in the season, however, the rains most times cause lots of damage.
Mumbai on Thursday was hit by strong winds alongside rain and wind that uprooted trees, which led to brief power outages in some parts of the city and it also disrupted the city’s train network.
According to Indian media reports, flights were temporarily suspended at the city’s international airport and at least 15 planes were diverted.
