The death toll due to building collapse in Pune’s Pimpri-Chinchwad has reached 8. On Saturday, the fourth day of the rescue operation, 7 more bodies were recovered. The accident took place at the Moshi landfill site. One person is still missing and rescue operations are underway.
Pune (Maharashtra) [भारत]July 12 (ANI): The death toll in the building collapse incident in Pimpri-Chinchwad in Pune district rose to eight on Saturday. Bodies of seven more people trapped inside the collapsed administration building of the Waste-to-Energy Project were recovered on the fourth day of search and rescue operations. The search for a missing person is still going on.
The incident occurred around 1:30 pm on July 8, when a large pile of garbage fell on the administrative building at the Moshi landfill site. According to an official statement issued by PCMC PRO, a total of 23 people were trapped in the incident, including 22 inside the building and one under an adjacent garbage dump. Five people managed to escape the building safely, while rescue teams pulled out nine others alive on the day of the incident.
Rescue operations and challenges
This rescue operation has been jointly carried out by the Indian Army, National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), Pimpri Chinchwad Municipal Corporation, PMRDA Fire Department and Police. On July 9, another trapped man named Bhavesh Vani was rescued from the building and taken to hospital, where doctors declared him dead. Officials said rescuers faced considerable challenges in reaching the unstable and heavily damaged structure.
12 excavators, dumpers and JCB machines were deployed to remove debris around the building. However, the damaged structure remained unsafe, causing delays in entering the building. Late Friday night, two advanced demolition excavators were brought to the site. Under the technical guidance of NDRF, the unstable concrete parts of the building were carefully removed, allowing rescue teams to enter the structure.
Seven bodies found on Saturday
During the search operation conducted on Saturday, the bodies of Akshay Sawant (35), Sunil Korke (40), Sunny Mane (39), Mahesh Kumbhar (33), Nagesh Gaikwad (26), Ranjit Patil (22) and Rahul Gaikwad (35) were recovered from inside the building. All seven were taken to YCM Hospital in Pimpri, where medical officer Dr Laxman Gofane declared them brought dead.
Officials said one person was still trapped under a nearby garbage heap. Search operations are continuing on a war footing with the help of NDRF canine squad and heavy machinery.
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