Former Air Traffic manager and wife killed in Mumbai hoarding collapse, death toll rises to 16

PTC News Desk: One of the sixteen fatalities from Monday's enormous dust storm that struck Mumbai was a 250-tonne hoarding that crashed, killing a retired Air Traffic Control (ATC) manager and his wife.

Manoj Chansoria, 60, a former ATC manager, and his wife Anita, 59, were retrieved from their bodies on Wednesday night following the collapse of a 100-foot hoarding on top of an east Mumbai gas pump. 

After the enormous hoarding collapsed on the gas pump, they were among the 100 other people buried beneath the rubble. The pair relocated to Jabalpur after Chansoria retired from his position as general manager of Mumbai ATC in March of this year.

According to authorities, they were in Mumbai for a few days to finish Ms. Chansoria's visa procedures. The pair said that when the storm occurred, they had stopped at the Ghatkopar pump to refuel after finishing their work and were on their way back to Jabalpur.

Their US-based son contacted his friend in Mumbai for assistance after their calls went unanswered. After the friend filed a missing person's report, the police traced the pair using their cell phones and found that their last known location was close to the Ghatkopar gas station.

Friends and family of the couple arrived at the scene in the hopes that they would be pulled from the wreckage. 

In the sad fall, 16 people have perished and 41 more have been injured so far. 34 of the people who were rescued made it out alive and were released from various hospitals in Mumbai after receiving treatment.

At the collapse site, search and rescue efforts are underway, but personnel worry that the magnitude and weight of the hoarding may prevent them from reaching the trapped individuals in time.

This hoarding was three times larger than the 40 by 40 feet that the Brihanmumbai Corporation allows, measuring 120 by 120 feet and weighing 250 tonnes. Because the city is close to the ocean, any large building built closer to the coast could be damaged by strong winds. 

The owner of the advertising agency that put up the billboard, Bhavesh Bhinde, is the target of a culpable homicide case. More than 20 police cases, including one involving rape, have been brought against Bhinde.

The relatives of those murdered in the disaster will receive ₹ 5 lakh in compensation, according to Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, who also stated that the government would pay for the medical expenses of those injured.