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Three dead, 10 injured in building collapse in India

Other News Materials 27 August 2007 13:08 (UTC +04:00)

( RIA Novosti ) - At least three people have been killed and 10 injured after a six-story building collapsed in the city of Mumbai in western India, a local police source said Monday.

Mumbai, formerly known as Bombay, is the capital of the state of Maharashtra, the most populous city in India, and by some measures the most populous city in the world, with an estimated population of about 13 million.

"The clearing of the debris is almost over, the injured are receiving medical assistance, and an investigation into the incident is underway," the source said.

The police earlier said that a total of six firefighter crews and four ambulances had been involved in the rescue effort.

Unauthorized alterations to buildings, including the addition of upper floors, is a common practice in Mumbai, where the cost of real estate is skyrocketing. The local authorities believe it is the main cause of a recent wave of building collapses in the city.

The Monday incident is the fifth reported building collapse in the commercial and entertainment capital of India in over a month.

At least eight workers were injured when a basement beam collapsed at a construction site on Sunday. Two women and three children were killed in a collapse of a five-story building August 15.

The worst incident occurred July 18, when a section of an apartment building collapsed, killing at least 29 people.

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