Mumbai building collapse toll rises to 26(Lead: Mumbai building collapse)

The death toll in the collapse of the seven-storey building - Lakshmi Chaya Apartments - in Mumbai has risen to 26.

Mumbai, July 19 : The death toll in the collapse of the seven-storey building - Lakshmi Chaya Apartments - in Mumbai has risen to 26.

The dead included eight men, 13 women and five children, police said.

Rescue operations continued on Thursday to clear the debris of the 20-year old building in suburban Borivali.

Seventeen people were rescued with injuries and many more are feared to be trapped in the debris, police said.

The injured are being treated at the nearby Bhagwati Hospital.

Scores of anxious relatives and friends have crowded the hospital.

Civic authorities blamed faulty repair work for the building's collapse. The building had some shops and a doctor's clinic on its ground floor.

Mumbai civic authorities maintain a list of dangerous buildings, but the one that crashed on Wednesday, was not included.

ANI