Five people including four women were killed and three others injured after the steel structure of a hoarding collapsed on Katraj Dehu Road Bypass in the Kiwale area near Pune on Monday evening.
The incident took place around 5.45pm on the service road of the Mumbai-Bangalore highway in Pimpri Chinchwad. Ambulances, fire fighters, police and local residents managed to take out eight people trapped under the collapsed structure.
Pimpri Chinchwad police commissioner Vinoy Kumar Choubey said, “Several people were trapped under the structure and sustained grievous injuries. Five people have died and three have been seriously injured, according to preliminary reports. Teams from the local police station and all senior officers are on the spot and coordinating the emergency response effort.”
Assistant commissioner of police Padmakar Ghanwat said, “Primary information suggests that when it started raining and strong winds were blowing, some people had stopped near the hoarding. The structure collapsed and eight people were trapped under it. Five people including four women have died. There is a woman among the three injured. Their identities are being ascertained.”
Deputy commissioner of police Kakasaheb Dole said the initial priority was ensuring medical aid to all and that what caused the collapse would be looked into.
In a separate incident, police officers said that a hoarding structure and a signal column had collapsed in the Nigdi Otascheme area around the same time. No casualties were reported in the incident.
