1 killed, 20 injured as roof of Bank of Maharashtra collapses in Mumbai

A person was killed and 20 others were injured after the roof of a Bank of Maharashtra branch located on the ground floor of a three-storey building collapsed in Maharashtra’s Solapur district on Wednesday (July 31).

The roof of the BoM branch in Karmala town collapsed around 11.30 am, police said. The building housed a hospital on the first floor, and some patients fell down through the torn roof.

Some bank officials and customers were trapped under the debris. Prashant Bagal, a customer, died during treatment, police said.

An official of the Karmala police station said the owners of the building had apparently constructed a slab without necessary permissions and without providing it proper support which led to the collapse.

“We have registered a case under IPC section 304 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder) against owners Shobha Doshi, Rajesh Doshi, Suchita Doshi and Sandesh Doshi,” said the police official.

“To create more floor space, the owners put up additional slab between the hospital and the bank, but there was no proper support to the roof and it was placed only on some metal angles,” he said.

“It seems that while constructing the slab, the owners had not taken permission from the authorities,” he added.

“Some patients fell into the bank when the roof caved in, and around 20 people, most of them bank customers, were trapped under the debris,” said the officer.