At least 14 people were killed in the Indian city of Mumbai after a giant billboard collapsed on them during a sudden thunderstorm, local authorities said Tuesday.
At least 74 others were hospitalized with injuries after the accident late Monday, while rescue operations were still underway Tuesday morning local time for an unknown number of people who remain trapped.
Police in Mumbai, India’s financial capital and most populous city, said in a post on X that “sudden storm and heavy rain” had caused the 220-foot-by-160-foot billboard to fall on a gas station in the eastern suburb of Ghatkopar.
The billboard tore through the roof of the gas station, located along one of the busiest highways in the city, disrupting traffic and crushing cars underneath.
No explosions or fire was reported.
Video from the site overnight showed cranes tearing through the metal frame that held the billboard together and rescuers pulling out survivors.
Of the 74 people who were injured, 31 have already been discharged from the hospital, India’s disaster relief agency assistant commandant, Nikhil Mudholkar, said Tuesday.
“The problem is that we are unable to use our gasoline-based cutting equipment because there is a petrol pump here,” complicating rescue operations, he told the local news agency ANI.
The sudden thunderstorm and strong winds Monday brought parts of Mumbai to a standstill and disrupted operations at the airport, one of India’s busiest. Some parts of the city recorded up to 3 inches of rain in two hours, the city’s municipal authority said in a post on X.
Public infrastructure has long been a sore spot for Mumbai, a city of 22 million that is also home to Asia’s largest number of billionaires.
Thunderstorms are common in Mumbai, and the city is prone to severe flooding especially during the June-to-September monsoon season, with landslides and road collapses killing dozens every year in the surrounding state of Maharashtra.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde has announced compensation of $6,000 for the families of those killed, his deputy, Devendra Fadnavis, said in a post on X.
An investigation is underway amid concerns that the billboard may have breached safety regulations.
“Strict action will be taken against the culprits,” Fadnavis said.
