India, July 7 -- On Sunday evening, Waseem Khan, 38, was barely 120 metres away from the spot in Mankhurd's Janata Nagar where a ground-plus-three storey tenement collapsed amid heavy rains, the debris engulfing two adjacent structures and resulting in the death of six people, including five minors.

"I thought there had been an explosion," Khan, who was at a nearby shop, told Hindustan Times. "I ran to the spot immediately, but when I reached there, I felt helpless. Huge concrete slabs, iron rods and debris lay everywhere. It was impossible to move anything with bare hands."

Within minutes, hundreds of local residents reached the spot and launched an arduous rescue operation. Men, women and youngsters pulled away at smaller pieces of de...