Mumbai: Seven persons, including a two-year-old girl, died and six others injured in Tuesday’s downpour. One of the deceased was identified as Priyen (30), a lawyer by profession, was found lying unconscious inside his Santro car near Gandhi Market Wednesday afternoon. At least seven others, including a renowned gastroenterologist attached to Bombay Hospital, went missing during flooding and are feared dead. An agency report said the number might be at 10.
The gastroenterologist, identified as Dr Deepak Amrapurkar, is suspected to have fallen into an open manhole at Lower Parel after he abandoned his car and decided to walk near the Elphinstone Road railway station on Tuesday.
He was carrying an umbrella with him, which was later found near the manhole. The police has registered a missing person’s complaint, and the fire brigade has launched a search operation to trace Dr Amrapurkar.
ACP Sunil Deshmukh said, “We are not sure if the man that fell in the manhole was Dr Amrapurkar, because another person can also carry a similar umbrella. We only found an umbrella there, and three agencies are looking for him. Every manhole is being searched.”
BMC officials in G South Ward said that the search for him is underway. “Frequent rain is slowing the process,” a civic official said. Although the rains have reduced somewhat, the damage from the torrential downpour on Tuesday has hit the city hard.
One of the deceased, identified as Priyen, was found lying unconscious inside his Santro car near Gandhi Market on Wednesday afternoon. Priyen was rushed to the civic-run Sion Hospital by the police after locals alerted them but he was declared dead on arrival. The Sion police has registered an Accidental Death Report and is investigating the case.
Mumbai police’s control room received over 270 complaints of tree fall and 70 other distress calls, which were directed to the local police stations and help was sent.
