At least 70 people were feared trapped after a five-storey apartment building collapsed late Monday (24) in western India, police said.
The building comprised 47 flats, police in the town of Mahad -- 120 kilometres (75 miles) south of Mumbai -- said in a statement.
The cause of the accident was not clear but building collapses are common during India's June-September monsoon, with rickety structures buckling under the weight of non-stop rain.
"Fifteen injured people have been rescued and taken to hospital," Mahad police said.
Rescue teams and canine squads were deployed to the scene of the accident, a statement from India's National Disaster Response Force said.
The monsoon plays a vital role in boosting agricultural harvests across South Asia. But it also causes widespread death and destruction, unleashing floods, triggering building collapses and inundating low-lying villages.
The death toll from monsoon-related disasters this year has topped 1,200, including more than 800 lives lost in India alone.
Demonstrators attend a "Save Democracy" march led by Indian opposition leader Rahul Gandhi and Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) bloc leaders, amid calls for Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar to resign, in New Delhi, India, November 1, 2026. REUTERS/Bhawika Chhabra
