Mumbai, Jul 16 (UNI) At least 10 people died and eight were injured on Tuesday, after a 100-year-old residential building came crumbling down in Dongri area of the city.
The BMC disaster management cell confirmed that at least 10 people died in the building collapse.
The four-storeyed illegal rear portion of 'Kesarbai' building on Tandel street in Dongri caved in this morning at around 1130 hrs, an official said and informed that the reason behind the incident is under investigation.
The rescue teams, including the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), are engaged in search operation, to rescue those trapped under the rubble.
Firemen on the spot said that search operation is likely to continue through the night as they have been clearing the debris manually as a JCB machine cannot enter the spot due to narrow lanes.
The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has opened a shelter at Imamwada Municipal Secondary Girls' School for the homeless residents of the building, a BMC officer said.
Some of the deceased were identified as Sabiya Nisar Shaik (25), Abdul Sattar Kalu Shaik (55), Muzamil Mansoor Salmani (15), Saira Rehan Shaikh (25), Javed Ismail (34), Arhan Shehjad (40) and Kashyap Ameerajan (13).
Meanwhile, Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has ordered a probe into the building collapse and assured strict action against the guilty.
Opposition leaders like Vijay Wadettiwar, Prithviraj Chavan, Ashok Chavan (Congress), Dhananjay Munde, Majeed Memon, Nawab Malik (Nationalist Congress Party) and Abu Asim Azmi (Samajwadi Party) lashed out at the BJP-led government for lapses, leading to the tragedy.
They unitedly demanded a detailed investigation into the causes leading to the mishap, identify the culprits and book them under charges of culpable homicide not amounting to murder.
Late in the evening, Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority (MHADA) Chief Spokesperson Vaishali Gadpale, while clearing the air on the building's ownership status, said in a statement that the main dilapidated structure Kesarbai Building was completely evacuated by the MHADA last year.

"Today's incident happened in the illegal rear portion of this building, which was not within the purview of the Mumbai Building Repair and Reconstruction Board," she added.
Earlier in the day, MBRRB chairman Vinod Ghosalkar had informed that the dilapidated structure, believed to be over 80-year-old, had been handed over for redevelopment to BSB Developers, which has not yet started the work.
"This is a serious matter and we shall investigate why the redevelopment work was not initiated, what caused the delays and take appropriate action against those responsible," he told the media persons here.
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