Mumbai: Eight people were killed and 35 injured after a massive billboard collapsed in Ghatkopar during the massive dust storm here on Monday.
Police said at least 20 persons are feared trapped under the debris of the billboard which came crashing down on a fuel station located on its opposite side.
Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) authorities are looking to find out whether the billboard advertisement agency had permission to install the structure.
The billboard’s metal frame pierced through the roof of several vehicles and fatally or grievously wounded several car passengers and fuel station staff.
Hording Havoc in #Mumbai
Massive billboard crashes on petrol station amid a dust storm in Mumbai’s Ghatkopar. 35 injured, over 100 more feared trapped pic.twitter.com/vawWVSiUrS
— Nabila Jamal (@nabilajamal_) May 13, 2024
“I was there when a big hoarding. All the cars, bikes and people that were there got stuck. We helped people get out and somehow manage to escape,” eyewitness Swapnil Khupte was quoted as saying by ANI.
BMC Commissioner Bhushan Gagrani informed that National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) team has joined the rescue operation, with cranes and gas cutters being used to find possible survivors under debris.
Injured persons were rushed to BMC-run Rajawadi Hospital for medical attention.
“BMC will file a complaint against Railway and Advertising company Ego Media in the matter of the hoarding falling incident in Ghatkopar which injured at least 35 people. The complaint will be filed for registering FIR under the Disaster Management Act,” said the BMC PRO.
Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said in a post on X said that the state government has ordered an investigation into the incident.
