Palghar: Twelve people, including a mother and daughter, were killed and six others seriously injured after a portion of an unauthorised four-storey building collapsed onto a nearby vacant tenement in Virar, located in Maharashtra's Palghar district, early Wednesday, officials said.

According to authorities, six bodies were pulled from the debris, while six others died during treatment at various hospitals.

More than 20 hours after the collapse, rescue teams are still working at the site of the Ramabai Apartment, where the rear section of the structure gave way around 12:05 a.m. on Wednesday. Efforts to clear the rubble and search for any possible survivors continue.

The officials have so far identified seven of the twelve deceased as Arohi Omkar Jovil (24), her one-year-old daughter Utkarsha Jovil, Laxman Kisku Singh (26), Dinesh Prakash Sapkal (43), Supriya Nivalkar (38), Arnav Nivalkar (11), and Parvati Sapkal.

District Collector Indu Rani Jakhar has said that some more persons may still be buried under the debris.

Luckily, the tenement on which the building collapsed was vacant, said Vivekanand Kadam, District Disaster Management Officer of Palghar.

As a precautionary measure, all the chawls around the building have been vacated and occupants shifted to safer places, he said.

Constructed in 2012, Ramabai Apartment has 50 flats, and the collapsed part had 12 apartments, said Kadam. 

Meanwhile, the Vasai Virar Municipal Corporation (VVMC) stated in a release that six persons remain admitted to various hospitals in the area and Nalasopara on the outskirts of Mumbai. 

The authorities also arrested the builder of the building after the VVMC lodged a complaint. PTI