Mumbai: A 250-tonne crane deployed for razing a ground-plus-16-storey dilapidated building in Kurla’s Qureshi Nagar toppled early Friday, injuring 10 people, including two minor boys, and damaging nearby huts, vehicles, and an Mhada compound wall after part of the machinery fell onto railway overhead equipment.Chunabhatti police have registered an FIR against the Delhi-based Total Construction Pvt Ltd, which was awarded the demolition contract by Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA), for alleged negligence and other offences, while the authority imposed a Rs 25 lakh penalty and directed the firm to bear the medical expenses and compensation for those injured and repair or compensate residents for damaged hutments and vehicles. The crane had been brought in despite the demolition being required to be carried out manually, MMRDA officials said.Of the 10 injured, Jagrulla Nabi Mohammed Khan (63), Ahmed Niyaz Ahmed (11), Atikur Reman (60), Hakum Sheikh (36), Numan Khan (21), Rehman Khan (19), Suraj Gaud (10), and Akbar (40) were taken to Sion Hospital. The remaining two — Raja Gaud (35) and his wife Aarti (30) — were taken to Kurla Bhabha Hospital. While nine of them were treated in the outpatient departments and discharged, Jagrulla, who sustained injuries to his head and leg, was admitted to Sion Hospital. His condition is said to be stable.According to MMRDA, demolition work had not begun when the crane toppled around 2.40am near Building No. 1 of Bhandari Metallurgy in Qureshi Nagar. The authority said the soft ground may have compromised the crane’s stability. However, according to BMC, the accident occurred while a crane was being mounted using a Poclain machine for the operation.Central Railway said the crane damaged overhead equipment on the single-line Kurla-Trombay section. Passenger services were not affected as the route is primarily used for goods traffic. Railway sources said the crane’s boom, estimated to be around 100ft high, first struck the OHE cable, which checked its fall and may have prevented the machinery from crashing directly into nearby structures.The building, constructed by HDIL in 2005 under the Slum Rehabilitation Scheme (SRA) with six wings and around 500 residential tenements, was never occupied as the project remained incomplete. Following HDIL’s financial problems and bankruptcy, SRA handed the structure over to MMRDA on an “as-is-where-is” basis. A structural audit in 2021 declared the building unfit for habitation, following which MMRDA initiated the demolition process.The collapse left residents counting their losses. Mohammed Nazim Munna Shaikh said jewellery bought for his daughter’s wedding on Aug 23, around Rs 1 lakh kept as dowry and Rs 35,000 in cash were buried under the debris. “There was a loud noise, similar to a bomb blast,” he said.Aarti said five members of her family were affected. She suffered injuries requiring six stitches, while her husband, Raja, a wireman, suffered an electric shock and a head injury that required four stitches. “We struggled to locate our three children after the incident,” she said.RECENT MMRDA MISHAPS* Aug 17, 2026 | Metro 9, Mira Road: Granite stones fell into a barricaded work zone at Medetiya Nagar station, with some puncturing the tyres of a passing school van. MMRDA imposed ₹12.5 crore in penalties on contractor and two agencies* May 5, 2026 | Sewri-Worli Connector, Parel: A 19-year-old labourer, Ravi Giri, died after a steel frame being shifted by a crane struck him at a construction site near KEM Hospital. MMRDA imposed penalties totalling ₹1.25 crore on contractor and consultant* Apr 15, 2026 | Metro 2B, BKC: A 400-tonne mobile crane toppled while lifting a precast beam near Asian Heart Hospital due to a mechanical failure. No one injured, but incident severely disrupted traffic. MMRDA fined contractor ₹1 crore* Feb 14, 2026 | Metro 4, Mulund: A parapet segment from an under-construction viaduct fell onto an autorickshaw and a car on LBS Road, killing one person and injuring three. MMRDA imposed an initial ₹6 crore penalty and ordered a corridor-wide safety audit* Nov 2025 | Metro 9, Mira Road: Site supervisor Farhan Tahzeeb Ahmed, 42, fell about 65 feet from the under-construction Sai Baba Nagar station and died. MMRDA fined the contractor ₹50 lakh and the consultant ₹5 lakh, besides ordering an independent probe.
