Mumbai Building Collapse: Baby Rescued From Rubble

A baby girl has been found alive in the debris of a collapsed multi-storey building in the Indian city of Mumbai.

Overjoyed rescue workers cheered as the child - found 11 hours after the building crumbled to the ground - was miraculously pulled out through a small tunnel.

Rescuers are still desperately trying to reach people feared trapped in the rubble of a five-storey building, in the latest building disaster to hit India's financial capital.

At least two people are dead and 22 families are feared trapped after the block crumbled to the ground shortly after dawn.

Firefighters and rescue workers are seen searching for survivors at the site of the collapsed building in Mumbai

Several diggers were immediately pressed into action to lift some of the larger slabs of concrete, allowing teams of rescuers to begin the task of searching for survivors, some of whom could be heard calling for help.

"Approximately 80 to 90 people are believed to be left behind in the building and trapped," said Alok Awasthi, local commander of the National Disaster Response Force, speaking to Sky News.

"My son is inside. I'm waiting for them to get him out," Mithi Solanki, 62, told the AFP news agency.

The five-storey building collapsed in Mumbai at day-break in the latest accident in India's financial capital

Such incidents are common in India and often blamed on poor construction practices, BBC News reported.

Crowds have collected near the rubble of the flattened building, reportedly owned by the city's municipal authority, in the east of the city.

The building is owned by the city's civic administrative body, the Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai, Sky said.

It said the building was for employees and their families who had been asked to leave earlier this year - but apparently did not say why.

Local people put the number of residents usually inside the apartment block as high as 60

Spokesman Vijay Khabale-Patil said: "The building was around 30 years old. We had issued a notice to them in April to vacate the building, but they did not act."

A series of deadly collapses in or close to Mumbai in recent months has highlighted poor quality construction and violations of the building code, caused by massive demand for housing and endemic corruption, AFP said.

In June, at least ten people, including five children, were killed in a building collapse in Mumbai.

And in April, 74 people were killed in another building collapse on the outskirts of the city.