The death toll in the Moshi waste processing unit collapse has risen to three after two bodies were recovered from the debris on Saturday, a senior official said on Saturday evening.
According to PTI, Pimpri Chinchwad Municipal Commissioner Vijay Suryawanshi stated that one individual remains missing and that search operations were still underway three days after the incident.
They reported that rescuers recovered the body of one individual, identified as Akshay Sawant, in the afternoon, and later pulled four more people from the debris, one of whom was pronounced dead by doctors.
"Sunil Korke (40), a resident of Alandi, was pulled out of the debris and taken to the Yashwantrao Chavan Memorial (YCM) Hospital, where doctors declared him brought dead," an official said.
The other three individuals pulled from the debris are identified as Sunny Mane (39), a resident of Gandharvanagari in Moshi; Mahesh Kumbhar (33) from Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar; and Nagesh Gaikwad (26), who lives in Sanjay Gandhi Nagar in Moshi, and have been shifted to hospital for medical examination.
On Wednesday, the three-storey administrative block of a Waste-to-Energy (WTE) plant operated by the Pimpri Chinchwad Municipal Corporation collapsed after a nearby garbage heap slid down like a landslide onto the structure.
Officials said that approximately 15 excavators, including specialised demolition equipment, were deployed in the operation conducted by the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) along with other agencies such as the Army.
Deputy Chief Minister Sunetra Pawar inspected the location and assessed the ongoing rescue efforts. She stated that intense rainfall and poisonous gases rising from the garbage pile had made the rescue operation difficult.
The Deputy Chief Minister stated that toxic gases rising from the garbage mound are hindering rescue teams, and that the heavy rainfall has slowed both rescue operations and the investigation.
She informed reporters that a probe into the incident is underway and that suitable measures will be implemented once the investigation’s conclusions are reached.
