Mumbai: Amid Wednesday’s rain fury, eight lives lost

Mayekar (69) was wading through chest-deep water in Hindmata around 4.30 pm when he suffered a heart attack. He sat on nearby steps for sometime before falling into the flooded street. He was rushed to KEM hospital, where doctors conducted an ECG and then declared him dead.

“When I got down from Parel bridge, a crowd had gathered around an old man. Froth was coming out of his mouth,” said Rutik Mohite, who was returning from office to his home. Vijay Randive, a local resident, said he spotted Mayekar fall into the water. After some time, his body started floating. Randive and Mohite tried calling police but even their van could not reach the spot. Calls to ambulance also yielded no response. “We decided to carry him to a taxi and took him to KEM hospital,” Mohite said.

Gandhi Market being cleaned on Thursday after rainwater receded. (Express Photo: Ganesh Shirsekar)

Autopsy findings showed Mayekar suffered coronary insufficiency, meaning insufficient blood flow in one or more arteries. His artery had also hardened and narrowed, a condition called atherosclerotic that affects blood flow in body. In his pocket were bank documents. Locals suspect he was heading from a bank. Swapnaja Kshirsagar, assistant commissioner of F-South ward, said the death was caused by natural causes and not rainfall.

In another incident, BMC staffer Jagdish Parmar (56) suffered a heart attack while on duty in Goregaon on Wednesday. He worked with the solid waste management department and was working to ensure drains were not clogged. He was rushed to Kapadia hospital, where he was declared dead.

Another BMC staffer Vijayendra Bagadi (36) slipped into an open drain in Goregaon. His body was found floating outside Siddharth hospital. But with waterlogged streets, he had to be taken to Jogeshwari Trauma hospital at 1.45 pm. “He was brought dead to the hospital,” said Dr Vidya Mane, medical superintendent at the Trauma hospital.

Bagadi also worked with the solid waste management department. He was trying to clear clogged drains when he slipped into the drain. “Both of them died while on duty. We have demanded financial help to their families and a job to one of the family members,” said Sukhdev Kashid, president of Municipal Mazdoor Union.

Near Bandra Kurla Complex, 24-year-old Mohammad Shaikh fell into the Bharat Nagar Creek at 4 pm. His body was later recovered. In Kala Nagar four boys jumped into the swollen Mithi river for a swim and started drowning. Three of the children were rescued but one drowned. According to the disaster management cell, search operation is underway for the boy. His body is suspected to have been swept into the sea near Bandra Worli Sea link.

Three deaths were reported from Thane, Navi Mumbai and Palghar. While the bodies of two have been found, search is on for the third. Among the dead is a seven-year-old boy from Nallasopara. “Abu Khan had allegedly left his house in the Santosh Bhuwan area around noon to look for his father who had gone to work. After he did not return, the family raised an alarm in the afternoon,” a police officer said. The body was found near Oswal Nagari, 3 km from where he was last seen, on Thursday morning, police said.

In Bhiwandi, a 62-year-old man was washed away around 2.30 pm on Wednesday while returning home. Laxman Tapisar, a resident of Naikpada, was walking across a bund when he slipped and fell, police said. His body hasn’t been found yet.

In Navi Mumbai’s Taloja, a 20-year-old man was electrocuted while trying to open the shutter of his shop on Wednesday amid heavy rainfall. The deceased was identified as Surendra Parmar from Tondare village in Taloja.

With inputs from Laxman Singh