Four dead, several feared trapped under billboard in freak accident during Mumbai rainstorm

MUMBAI – At least four people are dead, 61 injured and more than 40 feared trapped after a massive billboard fell during a rainstorm in India’s financial capital of Mumbai on May 13, local officials said.

The rainstorm was accompanied by gusty winds, causing the billboard, located next to a busy road in the eastern suburb of Ghatkopar to collapse on some houses and a petrol pump.

A rescue operation for the people remaining trapped under the billboard is ongoing.

Fire services, the police, disaster response officials and other authorities are all involved in the rescue efforts, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation, the civic body that runs Mumbai, said on social media platform X.

News channels and posts on social media showed the towering billboard billowing in the wind for a while before it gave way and crashed to the ground.

The local weather department had predicted that moderate spells of rain, accompanied by gusty winds reaching 40kmh to 50kmh, were likely to occur in parts of Mumbai district on May 13.

There were temporary flight disruptions at the Mumbai airport, with 15 flight diversions and operations suspended for a little over an hour, ANI news agency reported.

Mumbai, like several Indian cities, is prone to severe flooding and rain-related accidents during the monsoon season, which usually lasts from June to September every year. REUTERS