9-year-old girl dies after part of roof collapses in Bhiwandi

A 9-year-old girl died in Bhiwandi in Maharashtra’s Thane district after a part of the roof in her house collapsed while she was sleeping on Tuesday night, locals said on Wednesday.

The accident took place at around 11.30pm when Sakshi Yengandulla was asleep with her mother Sneha and sister Pragat, 8, in their house in the 30-year-old Ganga Jamuna Building in Markandeya nagar area of Bhiwandi.

The mother and her sister have suffered minor injuries.

Sakshi was taken to the Indira Gandhi civic hospital in Bhiwandi where she was declared dead. Local residents said the plaster from the roof fell over her head and chest, which caused the death of the Class 6 student.

Umesh Yengandulla has been living with his wife and two daughters on rent on the first floor of the building for the last two years. Umesh was away with friends at the time of the accident, locals said.

The fire department of Bhiwandi Nizampur City Municipal Corporation (BNCMC), however, claimed that they did not receive any call about the accident.

“However, later when we came to know some of our staff visited the spot around 2am and learned that the girl was taken to the hospital by locals,” the municipal corporation’s chief fire office D Salvi said.