17 dead in Virar building collapse: Rescue teams faced major hurdles during 36-hr operation

The narrow lanes did not allow heavy machinery like JCBs or cranes to reach the site, forcing teams to rely heavily on manual methods to remove debris.

The rescue team battled against time, unstable debris, and narrow lanes for more than 38 hours to save 26 lives after a portion of the 13-year-old Ramabai Apartment collapsed late Tuesday night in Virar-Naringi leaving 17 people dead, The Indian Express reported.

What began as a late-night emergency soon turned into one of the most difficult rescue operations the Vasai-Virar Municipal Corporation’s Fire Brigade and National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) teams had faced in recent years.

The fire brigade reached the site shortly after midnight. Within an hour and a half, two NDRF teams from Mumbai and Palghar arrived. Local police, municipal officials, and sniffer dogs also joined in, making the congested lanes of the locality even busier as the entire neighbourhood watched in fear. The structure had collapsed not only on itself but also over an adjoining chawl, instantly turning the area into a scene of destruction.

“Every step was dangerous. We had to carefully remove debris to avoid harming those trapped below,” The Indian Express quoted an NDRF official as saying. The official added that initially they had to remove the debris manually since the machinaries could not be used.

The narrow lanes did not allow heavy machinery like JCBs or cranes to reach the site, forcing teams to rely heavily on manual methods to remove debris.

Through the night, the fire brigade pulled out residents from the top layers of rubble. By early Wednesday morning, 11 people had been rescued, though two bodies had also been recovered.

As per the report, the sniffer dogs proved invaluable, leading rescuers to survivors buried under nearly eight feet of rubble.

By the 20th hour of the operation, rescuers had saved 16 people, though seven lives had already been lost. As the hours stretched into Wednesday evening, the death toll climbed to 12, but by the 24th hour, 21 residents had been pulled out in total.

Among them was 22-year-old Manthan Shinde, who was rescued at 3.30 am, almost four hours after the collapse. He later recalled how a cavity created by fallen beams gave him just enough space to survive until the NDRF reached him. “I was trapped under debris and was removed by the rescue teams. I was immediately rushed to the hospital. I thank the authorities for saving me,” Manthan said from his hospital bed.

The final phase of the operation continued through Wednesday night and into Thursday. By the end of 38 hours, all residents trapped inside had been accounted for. The final toll stood at 17 dead, with several others injured but alive. Officials noted that without the coordinated efforts of the fire brigade, NDRF, police, and sniffer dogs, the outcome could have been far worse.

Meanwhile, hundreds of residents were left homeless. Families from both the collapsed apartment and the adjoining chawls were forced to evacuate, leaving behind all their belongings. Many expressed anger at the builder for ignoring repeated notices from civic authorities about the dangerous condition of the structure. “We have been urging the builder again and again to take action, but he did nothing. Parts had fallen earlier too. This time, when it collapsed on our chawl, I was trapped for half an hour. I was finally pulled out by locals,” The Indian Express quoted Swanand Mahalgavkar, a chawl resident, as saying.