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Journalism of Courage
Seven persons were killed and at least 30 injured when a two-storeyed building housing a garment factory,BIG Garments,collapsed in Kalher village near Bhiwandi Thursday. The incident took place around 1.45 am at the 8,000-sq ft Arihant Complex,when over more than 50 workers were on night shift.
The building was served a notice for illegal construction,despite which the work to add an additional third floor was on, said Santosh Patil,Upsarpanch of Kopar Gram Panchayat. He said the notice to the owner of the godown,Hasmukh Dodiya,was served in March last year.
The building was old. The weight of adding a third floor,combined with heavy rain,led to the collapse, S A Ahmed,Assistant Commandant,NDRF,said. Gram Panchayat officebearers said the building was constructed in 2003.
Rescue operations are under way. As many as 26 workers have been pulled out of the rubble. Many workers are still unaccounted for. Some managed to escape before our team arrived. The exact number of people trapped is not known, said Ahmed.
