Death toll rises to 17 in Ghatkopar hoarding collapse

Mumbai: The death toll in the hoarding collapse incident that occurred in Mumbai's Ghatkopar area on May 13 has gone up to 17 with the death of a man at a civic-run hospital here, officials said on Wednesday. Raju Sonawane (52), who had suffered injuries after the hoarding collapsed on a petrol pump in Chheda Nagar locality during gusty winds and unseasonal rains, died during treatment at the KEM Hospital on May 19, a civic official said. Earlier, the authorities had declared 16 persons, including a retired Air Traffic Control (ATC) general manager and his wife, as dead. The collapse of the giant 120x120-foot hoarding had also left 75 persons injured. A day after the incident, the injured who needed to undergo neurosurgery were shifted to the KEM hospital, the official said. Bhavesh Bhinde, the director of the advertising firm that had installed the hoarding was later arrested from Udaipur in Rajasthan. A court here has remanded him police custody till May 26.