MAHAD: One person was killed and dozens feared trapped after a five-storey apartment building collapsed late on Monday in western India, officials said, with a local legislator warning that the number could be as high as 200.

The structure comprised 47 flats, police in the town of Mahad — 120 kilometres (75 miles) south of Mumbai — said in a statement.

The cause of the accident was not immediately clear but building collapses are common during India’s June-September monsoon, with old and rickety structures buckling under the weight of non-stop rain.

Three rescue teams, armed with specialised equipment and sniffer dogs, had been deployed to the scene of the accident, a statement from India’s National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) said, with Home Minister Amit Shah tweeting that he was “praying for everyone’s safety”.

Published in Dawn, August 25th, 2020