Mumbai Building Collapse: Dozens Trapped

A multi-storey building has collapsed in the Indian city of Mumbai, killing at least five people and leaving dozens more trapped.

Rescuers are trying to reach the men, women and children feared to be under the rubble, having already pulled out 27 people alive who were immediately rushed to hospital by waiting ambulances.

The residential building in India's financial capital, which is said to be home to up to 22 families, crumbled to the ground shortly after dawn.

Rescue workers pull out a survivor from underneath the rubble

Several diggers were immediately called into action to lift some of the larger slabs of concrete, allowing teams of rescuers to begin the task of searching for survivors, some of whom could be heard calling for help.

"Approximately 80 to 90 people are believed to be left behind in the building and trapped," said Alok Awasthi, local commander of the National Disaster Response Force.

Relatives gathered around the flattened site waiting for news about their loved ones.

"My heart is thumping with fear. I'm just hoping," said housewife Shanta Makwana, whose daughter and grandchildren were trapped inside the building.

"My son is inside. I'm waiting for them to get him out," said 62-year-old Mithi Solakani.

Neha Jagdale, a receptionist, rushed to the scene after hearing the news on TV.

Firefighters at the scene look through a gap in the collapsed structure

"My uncle and aunt have been staying here for years," she said. "The police are not telling us anything. We are just waiting."

The building is owned by the city's civic administrative body, the Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai.

It said the building was for employees and their families who had been asked to leave earlier this year - but did not say why.

Spokesman Vijay Khabale-Patil said: "The building was around 30 years old. We had issued a notice to them in April to vacate the building, but they did not act."

Five other apartment blocks have collapsed in or around Mumbai in recent months, including one illegally constructed building in April that killed 72 people.

A few weeks later a section of a hospital collapsed, injuring at least eight people.

And in June, 10 people, including five children, died when a three-storey building crumbled.

Building collapses have become relatively common across India.

Massive demand for housing around India's fast-growing cities combined with corruption often result in builders using substandard materials or adding extra floors without permission.

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