Dust storm caused a gigantic hoarding to fall in Mumbai, 14 died

Mumbai: A sudden gusty storm swirled through the Mumbai city leaving a devastating tragedy of a billboard crashing causing the death of 14 people and injuring 43, the BMC Disaster Control said here on Tuesday.

Besides, another 43 were injured, including some who were critical, while more than 30 injured victims were discharged after treatment. After a sudden duststorm accompanied by strong winds and followed by rains wreaked havoc in the city on Monday noon. A gigantic advertising hoarding erected by a private party was uprooted and collapsed onto several homes, and a petrol pump in Pant Magar around 4:15 p.m., injuring and trapping scores.

Till late Monday night, the Mumbai Fire Brigade, MDRF, and MMRDA teams managed to rescue more than 60 people trapped under the debris of the crashed hoarding. Besides, in another tragedy, a multi-storeyed vertical steel parking lot crashed near Shreeji Towers in Wadala crushing a dozen vehicles. At least two more persons were killed in other duststorm-related tragedies that disrupted road traffic and hit airport operations for 66 minutes.

Taking serious cognisance, Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde ordered the BMC Commissioner Bhushan Gagrani and Mumbai Police to conduct a thorough investigation into the tragedy. "I have also ordered the BMC authorities to carry out a special audit of all the hoardings in Mumbai and remove all the illegal ones from the city," Shinde told media persons while announcing an ex-gratia of Rs 5 lakh to the kin of all the deceased.

Source: IANS