Mumbai Building Collapse: Toddler Found Alive

A toddler has been found alive in the rubble of a collapsed multi-storey building in the Indian city of Mumbai.

Onlookers cheered as the girl - found 11 hours after the building crumbled to the ground - was pulled out through a small tunnel.

Rescuers continued to search for survivors, having already pulled out 27 others who were immediately rushed to hospital by waiting ambulances.

Rescue workers pull out a survivor from underneath the rubble

The residential building in India's financial capital, which is said to be home to up to 22 families, collapsed shortly after dawn, killing at least five people and leaving dozens more trapped.

Several diggers were immediately called into action to lift some of the larger slabs of concrete, allowing teams of rescuers to begin the task of searching for survivors, some of whom could be heard calling for help.

"Approximately 80 to 90 people are believed to be left behind in the building and trapped," said Alok Awasthi, local commander of the National Disaster Response Force.

Relatives gathered around the flattened site waiting for news about their loved ones.

"My heart is thumping with fear. I'm just hoping," said housewife Shanta Makwana, whose daughter and grandchildren were trapped inside the building.

"My son is inside. I'm waiting for them to get him out," said 62-year-old Mithi Solakani.

Firefighters at the scene look through a gap in the collapsed structure

Neha Jagdale, a receptionist, rushed to the scene after hearing the news on TV.

"My uncle and aunt have been staying here for years," she said. "The police are not telling us anything. We are just waiting."

The building is owned by the city's civic administrative body, the Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai.

It said the building was for employees and their families who had been asked to leave earlier this year - but did not say why.

Spokesman Vijay Khabale-Patil said: "The building was around 30 years old. We had issued a notice to them in April to vacate the building, but they did not act."

Five other apartment blocks have collapsed in or around Mumbai in recent months, including one illegally constructed building in April that killed 72 people.

A few weeks later a section of a hospital collapsed, injuring at least eight people.

And in June, 10 people, including five children, died when a three-storey building crumbled.

Building collapses have become relatively common across India.

Massive demand for housing around India's fast-growing cities combined with corruption often result in builders using substandard materials or adding extra floors without permission.

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