15 Mar 2014

Mumbai building collapse kills six

9:44 am on 15 March 2014

An apartment block has collapsed in the Indian financial hub Mumbai, killing six people and injuring three others.

Search teams look for trapped survivors.

Search teams look for trapped survivors. Photo: AFP

Dozens of rescuers scoured the site on Friday in search of anyone trapped in the wreckage of the building, located in a densely populated area of the city and surrounded by other structures hit with debris.

Officials said six people had died and three were injured. Rescuers were using heavy equipment to comb through the collapsed building to see if there were other victims.

An official from India's emergency response agency said however that he believed the toll of dead and injured would not increase significantly.

"Information indicates two families were caught in the collapse. So we are hoping the numbers will not rise sharply from here," Commandant Alok Avasthy of the National Disaster Response Force told AFP.

Police initially thought no-one was in the building as it had been cleared of tenants after being declared uninhabitable by municipal authorities who had served a demolition notice.

Rescuers pull a man from the rubble of the collapsed building.

Rescuers pull a man from the rubble of the collapsed building. Photo: AFP