RAIGAD: A five-storeyed building in Maharashtra's Raigad district collapsed on Monday at around 7 pm. There are nearly 45 flats in the five-storey building, named Tarek Garden.

Police said that 18 persons are still missing. Teams of National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) are at the spot for rescue operations. Canine squads were also deployed at the scene of the collapse, an official said.

Raigad District Superintendent of Police Anil Paraskar told a news agency that, "Eight persons have been rescued from the debris so far and 18 are still missing. A man died of cardiac arrest on Monday night after he was hit by a stone from the falling building. This person was not a resident of the building, but was walking nearby when it collapsed and was hit by a stone from the falling debris. He died of cardiac arrest."

The local administration, including the police and fire brigade, is currently carrying out rescue work and 18 persons still feared to be trapped under the debris.

Raigad District Collector Nidhi Choudhary said, “Since Monday was a working day, we think fewer people were in the building. We estimate that less number of people were present inside the structure.”

Amit Shah tweeted as, "The collapse of a building in Raigad, Maharashtra is very tragic. Have spoken to DG @NDRFHQ to provide all possible assistance, teams are on the way and will be assisting with the rescue operations as soon as possible. Praying for everyone’s safety." Here is the tweet.

The collapse of a building in Raigad, Maharashtra is very tragic. Have spoken to DG @NDRFHQ to provide all possible assistance, teams are on the way and will be assisting with the rescue operations as soon as possible. Praying for everyone’s safety.
— Amit Shah (@AmitShah) August 24, 2020

Maharashtra’s chief minister, Uddhav Thackeray, had assured the local administration of all possible support for speedy rescue and relief work.

Here is the tweet made by NDRF.

T3️⃣ʀᴀɪɢᴀᴅ ʙᴜɪʟᴅɪɴɢ ᴄᴏʟʟᴀᴘsᴇ Update👇25/8/20
🔶@NDRFHQ teams of @5Ndrf on site
🔶Carrying out SAR ops
🔶With all Spl eqpt
🔶Canine Squad being used
🔶@5Ndrf Bn Commandant monitoring real-time@PMOIndia @HMOIndia @BhallaAjay26 @PIBHomeAffairs @ANI @DDNewslive pic.twitter.com/j250BH9Awm
— ѕαtчα prαdhαnसत्य नारायण प्रधान ସତ୍ଯପ୍ରଧାନ-DG NDRF (@satyaprad1) August 25, 2020