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.







Curator Emma Slocombe with ikat robes and arabachi coats in the Peter the Great Room in Blickling Hall Amit Roy
View of the entrance to Blickling Hall on a rainy autumn dayAmit Roy
Kente cloth from Ghana in the Long Gallery in Blickling Hall
Decoration in the Great Hall at Blickling Hall Amit Roy
Palampore fragment made in coastal south-east India in the Brown Room in Blickling Hall Amit Roy
Bed valance dating from early 1700s in the Italian Print Room at Blickling Hall Amit Roy
Indian inspired fabric draped on sofas in the South Drawing Room in Blickling Hall Amit Roy
Indian inspired fabric draped on sofas in the South Drawing Room with Indian carpet in Blickling Hall Amit Roy
Karun Thakar has picked out the geometric patterns in the bookcase and the Kente cloth in the Long Gallery in Blickling Hall Amit Roy
Large tapestry depicting Peter the Great defeating the Swedish army at the Battle of Poltava in 1709 Amit Roy
ikat robes and arabachi coats in the Peter the Great Room in Blickling Hall Amit Roy
Baghs and kanthas made by women provide contrast to the men only portraits in the Great Hall at Blickling Hall Amit Roy
Baghs and kanthas in the entrance Great Hall at Blickling Hall Amit Roy
Baghs and Kanthas in the Great Hall in harmony with stained glass window at Blickling Hall Amit Roy
Kimonos reflect Japanese influence in Upper Ante Room in Blickling Hall Amit Roy
Kimono in Upper Ante Room in Blickling Hall
A view of the Palace and fort at Agra shows romantic side of India Amit Roy
Blickling Hall Amit Roy
Table carpet, European 1670-1680 Amit Roy
Unfinished 17th century Italian embroidery in the Print Room at Blickling Hall Amit Roy
Picture of Kashmir shows a romantic view of India Amit Roy
A panel of Ashburnham bed hangings made in Gujarat for sale in Europe in the Brown Room in Blickling Hall Amit Roy
Colcha made in the 1600s by women in Bengal for the Portuguese market in the Long Gallery at Blickling Hall Amit Roy



