Up to 90 people are feared dead after a five storey building collapsed in India's financial capital of Mumbai this morning.
Rescue workers are trying to reach dozens of people who could be trapped in the debris of the residential building - some of whom can reportedly be heard calling for help.
The bodies of two people have been recovered already - with 12 people pulled out alive so far.
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Scene: Up to 90 people are feared dead after a
five-storey residential building collapsed in India's financial capital
of Mumbai this morning
Recovery: Rescuers are trying to reach dozens of
people who could be trapped in the debris of the building. Above, a
dead body is carried out of the rubble
Survivor: The bodies of two people have been recovered already - with 12 people pulled out alive so far
The building, which is reportedly owned by Mumbai's municipal authority, is believed to home up to 22 families.
Crowds have gathered near the rubble of the flattened building - with many people desperately waiting to hear news of loved ones.
Dozens of firefighters and other emergency personnel have been on scene, with ambulances waiting to take survivors to hospital.
Operation: Dozens of firefighters and other
emergency personnel have been on scene, with ambulances waiting to take
survivors to hospital
Help: Rescue workers carry a survivor to safety on a red plastic stretcher
Hope: Firefighters look through a gap as they search for survivors at the site of the collapsed building
Search: The building, which is reportedly owned
by the Mumbai's municipal authority, collapsed just after 6am near
Dockyard Road in the city's south-east
'Approximately 80 to 90 people are believed to be left behind in the building and trapped,' said Alok Awasthi, local commander of the National Disaster Response Force.
It is the latest of several Mumbai building collapses this year - with such incidents becoming relatively common across India.
Huge demand for housing around India's fast-growing cities combined with pervasive corruption is believed to have resulted in builders cutting corners by using substandard materials or adding unauthorized floors.
In April, at least 72 people died when an illegally constructed building fell down on the outskirts of the city.
Hysterical: An Indian woman breaks down as she discovers her relatives are feared trapped inside the collapsed building
Worry: Another woman looks fearful as she waits by a metal gate for news of survivors
Waiting: Crowds gather on balconies near the
flattened building - with many people desperately waiting to hear news
of loved ones
The second most deadly structural failure in modern times after 9/11 remains to be the collapse of Rana Plaza factory building in Bangladesh in April - which claimed the lives of 1,129 people.
Thousands of workers were inside the eight-storey building, which housed five garment factories, when it collapsed into rubble near the capital of Dhaka.
Deadly: The collapse of Rana Plaza factory building in Bangladesh claimed 1,129 lives
Chaos: A man rescues a garment worker who was trapped under the rubble of the eight storey building near Dhaka
It was later reported that survivors were forced to have their limbs amputated without anaesthetic by amateur first-aiders so they could be pulled from the rubble.
In the wake of the Rana Plaza disaster, the country has been under extreme pressure from Western brands to improve safety.
Bangladesh's government and garment manufacturers are campaigning to close dangerous factories and to make safety a priority for the country's most valuable export industry.
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