NEW DELHI, Aug. 28 (Xinhua) -- At least 17 people were killed and a few others injured after a portion of a four-storey building collapsed in the western Indian state of Maharashtra, officials said Thursday.
The building collapsed early Wednesday in Virar East area of Palghar district, about 86 km north of Mumbai, the capital city of Maharashtra.
Seventeen people have died so far in the area, Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said. "So far, nine people have been rescued safely."
According to officials, the building housing nearly 50 flats collapsed on an adjacent vacant tenement house.
Immediately after the building collapsed, police, fire and emergency personnel and disaster response force teams rushed to the spot to carry out rescue operations and pull out survivors.
The cause of the collapse was not immediately known. Police have registered a case and ordered an investigation.
Reports said police Thursday arrested the builder of the building and charged him with unauthorized development or use of land and culpable homicide not amounting to murder. ■
