Building collapses near Mumbai; 1 killed, 5 injured

MUMBAI, India – Part of a three-story building collapsed on the outskirts of India’s financial capital of Mumbai on Friday, killing at least one person and injuring five others, an official said.

Rescuers were clearing the debris in the Bhiwandi slum area to search for several people feared trapped underneath.

Krishan Kumar, a National Disaster Response Force official, said the injured were being treated at a nearby hospital.

Building collapses are common in India. They are often caused by shoddy construction materials or lax oversight of regulations. With property and rental prices high in Mumbai, some builders have added unauthorized extra floors.

At least four buildings have collapsed in the past four months in Mumbai, where thousands of structures are more than a century old, their foundations weakened by years of heavy rains during the annual June-September monsoon season.