AT least 10 people were killed yesterday and dozens were feared trapped when a portion of a three-story residential building collapsed on the outskirts of the Indian city of Mumbai, officials said.

Some residents were trying to get out of the building, in the industrial town of Bhiwandi, 40 kilometers northeast of Mumbai, after cracks appeared in it in the middle of the night, when it crashed down.

“Half of the building collapsed and nearly 25 to 26 families are feared trapped,” Pankaj Ashiya, the municipal commissioner of Bhiwandi, told reporters.

It was not clear why the building, which had 54 apartments on three floors, collapsed. At least 11 injured people were rescued.

Teams of police, city workers and members of the National Disaster Response Force removed debris in the cramped lanes of the neighborhood, trying to reach people calling out for help under the rubble.

“We heard a noise and I noticed that there were cracks on the floor,” resident Sharif Ansari said. “I woke up my neighbors and my wife and we rushed everyone down.”

Last month, more than a dozen people were killed when a building collapsed in the industrial town of Mahad.

(SD-Agencies)