The 20-year-old residential building in the middle-class locality housed about 13 flats with about 70 residents. The building also housed a hotel on the fourth, fifth and sixth storeys, called King's Inn. A branch of Chetna Bank was located on the ground floor besides a gas agency and an electronics shop. The injured have been rushed to Bhabha Hospital, Lilavati Hospital (both Bandra West), V N Desai (Santa Cruz), and Sion Hospital.

The hotel employs about 22 persons, 11 of which were inside the building when it caved in. One of the deceased employees, Umakant, was a helper in the kitchen. Another staffer, Mangal Singh, was taken out with serious injuries. Hotel Owner, Dilip Datwani, is reportedly out of town.Another employee, Raju, had just returned from his native village in Bangalore and found in the heap. Survivors, who had recovered from the initial shock, say one side of the building suddenly caved in. There were no warning tremors. The owner of the gas agency, Jairam Chawla is the builder, according to preliminary inquiries.

About 20 fire tenders, 16 ambulances and three rescue vans were rushed to the site, where emergency services were working at a feverish pace. About 150-200 locals, who spontaneously formed a human chain to keep intruders out, also helped in the relief work.

People were seen scraping at the rubble with their bare hands as well as anything they could lay their hands on. Bottles of water being passed around. Assistant Commissioner of Police Upendra Singh is heading the rescue operations.

Police arrived on the scene soon after the building crashed. However, the Bombay Suburban Electric Supply undertaking took an hour to rush their personnel there to switch off the electricsupply.

Chief Minister Manohar Joshi and Mayor Nandu Satam, who visited the site announced that a committee will be set up tomorrow to investigate the crash.