15 hurt, 3 critical as 2-storey structure collapses in Bandra

Time of India

18-07-2025

Mumbai: An explosion caused by a gas cylinder leak resulted in the collapse of a ground-plus-two structure at around 5:35am in Bandra East on Friday, injuring 15 people; three are critical.
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The incident occurred among several cheek-by-jowl structures in a chawl located at Bharat Nagar, BKC. The injured include an eight-year-old boy and three senior citizens. Most residents were fast asleep. Some were on their way for Friday's first prayers at the adjoining mosque, while others were preparing their children for school when the explosion took place in the home of 65-year-old Rehana Ansari and her husband, 68-year-old Mehmood Ansari, on the first floor.
Both sustained 50% burns and were in critical condition at KEM Hospital.
The fire brigade managed to rescue six residents of the building after extricating them from the debris. They faced a tough time carrying out the rescue operation, as they had to enter the area where the structure collapsed from a neighbouring masjid. Subsequently, the fire brigade also managed to remove as many as six intact LPG gas cylinders from the debris.
"We could get the six persons out consciously and safely, as they were trapped under the debris due to the cavities created by the iron angles used in the structure when it collapsed. Of the six, four were residing on the ground floor and two on the first floor. Some of those on the ground floor got out on their own," said a fire brigade official.
"The masjid, whose window was damaged in the explosion, was vacated, and the fire brigade was given space in the masjid to carry out rescue work," said Iftekar Ibrahim Shaikh, who resides in the neighbourhood.
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Eighty-five-year-old Jaffar Khan had arrived for his morning prayers at the mosque adjacent to the ill-fated structure. "I was just about to start the ritual when parts of the wall fell on me," he said. Khan escaped with a minor injury on his forehead.
While many said they were fortunate enough to be taken out of the rubble early, Haseena Sheikh (50) remained trapped for five hours. Sheikh and her 25-year-old son, Asif, who were on the first floor of the structure, had woken up early for prayers as well.
They remained trapped under the debris, screaming until the rescue team found them. Sadiq, another son of Haseena, and his wife, Sharmin, were on the second floor and were rescued earlier.
Mustafa and Shabana Sayyed, parents of two teenage girls, had just woken their 16-year-old daughter, Alfiya, for school. "Her mother was helping her comb her hair, and in an instant, we heard a loud noise and the roof collapsed." Their 18-year-old daughter was still asleep at the time. The entire family is now admitted to Bhabha Hospital, along with 13 others, with Shabana suffering injuries from metal objects that fell on her as she shielded Alfiya. Mustafa received a few stitches, and both daughters escaped with minor injuries.
The youngest victim of the tragedy, eight-year-old Mohammed Irfan Khan, is the only other patient in ICU. He is conscious and is being treated for severe head injuries.