Building collapse kills 6 in Mumbai

A 40-year old four-storey building collapsed in the Indian city of Mumbai yesterday, killing at least eight people with more than 20 feared trapped, fire and police officials said.

A total of 16 people had been rescued so far. The ground floor of the building in the suburb of Ghatkopar housed a nursing home, which was vacant at the time, while the rest of the building was occupied by three or four families on each floor.

Building collapses are common in India, especially during the annual monsoon season which usually runs from late June to September.

Worsening floods killed another eight people in 24 hours in India's Gujarat state as rescue teams raced yesterday to reach hundreds of people marooned in stricken towns and villages. About 80 people are believed to have been killed in Gujarat since the start of the monsoon a month ago.

Apart from Gujarat, Arunachal Pradesh and Assam states in India's northeast have been hard-hit, while pockets of the eastern states of Odisha and Bihar have also been affected.

In Assam at least 75 people have been killed since April.  Thirteen people were killed in flash floods in Jammu and Kashmir at the weekend.