20 killed in Mumbai, Pune wall crashes following heavy rains, govt. declares public holiday

Mumbai: At least 13 persons were killed in a wall crash in Malad, north-west Mumbai and another seven perished in a wall collapse in Pune, early on Tuesday as rains continued to wreak havoc in large parts of Maharashtra.

In the wake of the incessant rainfall, the state government has declared July 2 as a public holiday for Mumbai.

According to officials, the compound wall of a school in Pimpripada in Malad suburb, collapsed on some adjoining hutments in which more than 13 people were killed, around 1 am on Tuesday.

Early today, the compound wall of the Sinhagad College in Pune crashed on some hutments beside, killing at least seven persons.

In both the incidents, many more victims are still feared under the rubble and teams of NDRF are at the site for rescue and relief operations.

As the IMD predicted extremely heavy to very heavy rains in parts of coastal Konkan, the Maharashtra government declared a public holiday for Mumbai city.

Early today, Brihanmumbai Municipal Commissioner Pravin Pardeshi declared all schools and colleges shut for the day as a precautionary measure.

Air, road and rail traffic was also hit for the second consecutive day on Tuesday and rains have so far claimed around 50 lives in the past five days in the state so far. IANS

Published on: July 02, 2019 at 07:10 IST