Bhiwandi building collapse: Death toll rises to 7, structure owner arrested

The death toll in the Bhiwandi building collapse rose to seven on Monday, while the search and rescue operation continued for the third day, a National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) said in an official statement. The three-storey building collapsed in the Bhiwandi area in Maharashtra's Thane district on Saturday afternoon. The owner of the building situated in Wardhaman Compound in Valpada in the Mankoli area has been detained, officials added, as quoted by the news agency PTI.

Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde termed the incident as "most unfortunate" and visited the collapse site as well as the injured persons undergoing treatment in Bhiwandi's IGM Hospital late Saturday night.Bhiwandi Deputy Commissioner of Police Navnath Dhavle told PTI offences under various sections of the Indian Penal Code have been registered against the structure owner Indrapal Patil. The building was about 10 years old and possibly could not take the load of a mobile tower recently installed on top of it.