11 killed in Mumbai building collapse
At least 11 people have died after a building collapsed near India's western city of Mumbai, police say.
About 17 people are feared trapped beneath the three-storey building in Thane after the incident on Tuesday.
Reports say the municipality had declared the old, dilapidated property dangerous to live in, but the residents had refused to vacate.
More than 100 people have died in residential building collapses in Mumbai in the last two years.
Property prices and rent in Mumbai are among the highest in Asia. Many citizens are forced to live in old, dilapidated properties in a land-scarce city where an estimated 60% of its 18 million people live in slums and shantytowns.
There are more than 14,000 buildings in Mumbai that are more than 70 years old.
Between 2008 and 2012, there were 100 building collapses in which 53 people died and 103 others were injured, authorities say.
Poor construction material and building practices are often blamed for many of the building collapses in India.
(BBC)
