48 die in India building crash

The death toll in Thane’s seven-storey building collapse rose to 48 on Friday.Two officials were suspended for not heeding to complaints regarding the unauthorised structure, located 35 kilometres away from Mumbai.There were around 35 families residing in the building.Disaster management and fire brigade officials continued rescue operations over 24 hours after the tragedy.“We have pulled out 48 dead bodies. We have rescued 59 people. At least 25 people are still trapped under the rubble. We plan to rescue them slowly to avoid any more injury,” National Disaster Response Force Commander Alok Awasthi said here.A Thane disaster management official said while efforts were on to rescue those trapped under the debris, many victims were yet to be identified.“Eight to 10 victims who were critical have been shifted to hospital in Mumbai. We pulled out many children,” he added.At least 10 children succumbed to their injuries in the incident, police said.Police have registered a case of culpable homicide not amounting to murder against the two builders, Jamil Qureshi and Salim Shaikh, who have promptly gone underground.Maharashtra Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan, Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar and Home Minister RR Patil visited the spot.Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) legislator from the area Ramesh Patil alleged that the municipal commissioner did not pay heed to his complaints about the building being unauthorised and unfit for occupation. source : Gulfnews