Indian police arrested the owner of a property in a building that collapsed in Mumbai on culpable homicide charges Wednesday (26) as the death toll from the disaster rose to 17.
The arrest came as civic activists in India's financial capital decried the latest deadly housing collapse, which shone a spotlight on poor construction standards in the Asian country.
"We have arrested Sunil Shitap and are questioning him regarding the alterations that led to the building collapse," Deven Bharti, a joint commissioner of Mumbai police, said.
Seventeen people, including a three-month-old baby, were crushed under a pile of rubble when the four-storey building in the northern suburb of Ghatkopar gave way on Tuesday (25) morning.
Police suspect that renovation work being carried out by Shitap to a private hospital on the ground floor caused the building, which housed several families in small apartments, to collapse.
Bharti said Shitap had been booked under three offences, including culpable homicide not amounting to murder and causing grievous hurt by an act endangering the life or personal safety of others.
The death toll jumped to 17 on Wednesday after rescuers, using diggers to sift through the debris found several bodies during the night.
"Seventeen are dead and we have rescued 29 victims, eight of which have been admitted to hospital," Sudhir Naik, a deputy commissioner for Mumbai's civic administrative body, said.
Rescue operations were winding down on Wednesday afternoon as officials started to give up hope of finding any more survivors.
Building collapses are common in India, especially during the monsoon season from late June to September.
Mumbai is particularly vulnerable with millions forced to live in cramped, ramshackle properties because of rising real estate prices and a lack of housing for the poor.
The city has been hit by several deadly building collapses in recent years, often caused by shoddy construction, poor quality materials or ageing buildings.
Activists say housing societies, private owners and builders often cut corners to save on costs. They also claim that corruption plays a part with officials sometimes knowingly certifying dilapidated buildings in return for money.
"It is a combination of factors. Mumbai has so many horrible building collapses waiting to happen," Krishnaraj Rao, a decades-long campaigner for residents rights, said.
In 2013, 60 people were killed when a residential block came crashing down in one of Mumbai's worst housing disasters.
A dilapidated building left 12 people dead when it collapsed near the city in August 2015. Nine people died the same month when another old three-storey building collapsed in monsoon rain in the Mumbai suburb of Thakurli.
Moglai Bap and Mo Chara of Kneecap perform at Glastonbury Festival at Worthy Farm in Pilton, Somerset, Britain, June 28, 2025. REUTERS/Jaimi Joy
Police may probe anti-Israel comments at Glastonbury
BRITISH police said they were considering whether to launch an investigation after performers at Glastonbury Festival made anti-Israel comments during their shows.
"We are aware of the comments made by acts on the West Holts Stage at Glastonbury Festival this afternoon," Avon and Somerset Police, in western England, said on X late on Saturday (28).
Irish hip-hop group Kneecap and punk duo Bob Vylan made anti-Israeli chants in separate shows on the West Holts stage on Saturday. One of the members of Bob Vylan chanted "Death, death, to the IDF" in a reference to the Israel Defense Forces.
"Video evidence will be assessed by officers to determine whether any offences may have been committed that would require a criminal investigation," the police statement said.
The Israeli Embassy in Britain said it was "deeply disturbed by the inflammatory and hateful rhetoric expressed on stage at the Glastonbury Festival".
Prime minister Keir Starmer said earlier this month it was "not appropriate" for Kneecap to appear at Glastonbury.
The band's frontman Liam Óg Ó hAnnaidh was charged with a terrorism offence last month for allegedly displaying a flag in support of Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah at a concert in November. He has denied the charge.
A British government minister said it was appalling that the anti-Israel chants had been made at Glastonbury, and that the festival's organisers and the BBC broadcaster - which is showing the event - had questions to answer.
Health secretary Wes Streeting said he was also appalled by violence committed by Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank.
"I'd also say to the Israeli Embassy, get your own house in order in terms of the conduct of your own citizens and the settlers in the West Bank," Streeting told Sky News.
"I wish they'd take the violence of their own citizens towards Palestinians more seriously," he said.
(Reuters)