Heavy rain accompanied by strong winds lashed Mumbai, India’s financial capital, killing at least eight people, uprooting trees and causing power outages in many parts of the city, officials said on Monday.
The deaths were caused by one large billboards It fell on crowds of people seeking shelter, a local official said.
Rescue workers from India’s national disaster force and local police were called in to help free dozens of people trapped in rubble on the eastern outskirts of Ghatkopar. Video on social media showed the billboard shaking during the storm before falling.
One witness, Swapnil Khupte, speak that when the rain and wind began to get worse, he and his friends took shelter at a gas station near the billboard. When it collapsed, many of the people trapped below were women and children, he said.
“All the cars, bicycles and people there were trapped,” he told a local news agency. “We helped everyone get out and somehow escaped.”
Mumbai, home to more than 18 million people, is located on a peninsula surrounded by sea. Like many other Indian cities, the city is prone to floods and serious accidents due to rains during the monsoon season, which lasts from June to September.
In recent years, India has experienced extreme weather, including record heat waves and heavy floods. Last year’s monsoon also caused damage and deaths in other parts of the country.
A total of 64 people injured when the billboard toppled over on Monday were taken to hospital. speak Bhushan Gagrani, an official of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation, which runs Mumbai. One person is listed as being in critical condition.
Then there are the rains dust storm which some residents likened to a scene from a Hollywood movie. Authorities at Mumbai airport said they diverted more than a dozen domestic flights and suspended operations for more than an hour.
Although Monday’s rains helped ease the sweltering heat, many parts of the city were still flooded and traffic jams persisted.
