11 Rescued, Others Still Trapped

 After Garbage Mound Crushes Building in Pune

Report By Y-Trendz

Pune/Pimpri-Chinchwad — July 9, 2026

Rescue operations stretched into a second day on Thursday in Pune's Pimpri-Chinchwad area after a massive mound of garbage, loosened by days of relentless monsoon rain, came crashing down like a

landslide onto a three-storey administrative building, trapping dozens of workers and triggering one of the region's largest multi-agency rescue efforts in recent memory.

What Happened

The collapse occurred around 1:45 pm on Wednesday at a waste-to-energy plant in Moshi, a planned neighborhood in Pimpri-Chinchwad near Pune. According to the Pimpri Chinchwad Municipal Corporation (PCMC), the three-storey building stood adjacent to a mountain-like pile of legacy, or old, waste. Pimpri Chinchwad Municipal Commissioner Vijay Suryawanshi said preliminary findings suggest heavy rainfall loosened the waste mound, causing it to collapse onto the building in landslide-like fashion.

Maharashtra minister Girish Mahajan, who visited the site Wednesday evening, said the region had received well over 400 millimeters of rain in the preceding two to three days, with some reports citing totals above 600 mm over a slightly longer window. He said the accumulated water caused a massive surge of garbage debris to slam into the building, bringing down a concrete slab in the process.

The facility belongs to a waste-to-energy project run in partnership between PCMC and a private operator, Antony Lara Renewable Energy, which manages a 14-megawatt power plant at the site. Employees of that firm were reportedly among those trapped when the structure gave way.

Rescue Operation and Shifting Toll

The number of people believed trapped has shifted repeatedly as rescue crews work through the wreckage. Initial civic body estimates put the number of people in the building at around 20 to 23, with an early wave of five to six managing to escape or walk out on their own shortly after the collapse. As search-and-rescue teams from the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), the Indian Army, the Municipal Fire Brigade, the PMRDA Fire Brigade and local police worked through the night, the number of confirmed rescues climbed steadily — from four, to six, to seven, and ultimately to nine alive by Thursday, according to the most recent updates from officials on the ground.

Pune Deputy Commissioner of Police Ganesh Ingale said authorities had initially been told 16 or 17 people were in the building, of whom nine had been recovered by Thursday, leaving an estimated six to seven still unaccounted for. Officials cautioned that the dense, waterlogged garbage pile has made the recovery process especially difficult, slowing efforts to pinpoint the exact number and location of those still trapped.

Contact has reportedly been established with at least some of the trapped individuals. Mahajan said rescuers had reached three people whose legs were pinned beneath rubble, and that crews were working to clear debris around them, while others described fire brigade personnel communicating directly with survivors and passing them biscuits and water while extraction efforts continued. Officials expressed hope that the operation could be completed by Thursday morning, though as of the latest updates, search efforts remained ongoing.

Authorities have so far reported no confirmed fatalities from the incident, a fact officials have repeatedly emphasized even as the rescue operation drags into its second day.

Response and Reinforcements

The scale of the response has grown steadily since Wednesday afternoon. In addition to the NDRF's 5th Battalion, which has been conducting Collapsed Structure Search and Rescue (CSSR) operations using specialized equipment and technical search methods, the Indian Army deployed a Joint Task Force from its Southern Command, comprising engineering and medical personnel, to assist alongside civilian agencies. Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has sought updates from the state police commissioner on the operation's progress, while Pimpri-Chinchwad Mayor Ravi Landge said the fire brigade, NDRF, police, and health and environment departments were coordinating closely to extract the remaining victims.

Wider Concerns

The incident has renewed scrutiny of safety standards at waste management sites across Maharashtra, with residents and commentators questioning why an occupied administrative building was situated so close to a large, aging waste mound in the first place. The collapse also comes amid a broader pattern of monsoon-related disruption across the state this week, including flooding-related damage to the Mumbai-Pune railway corridor and a separate building collapse in Delhi's Rohini area that left at least one person dead.

Officials say rescue operations will continue around the clock until all those believed trapped are accounted for.

This report reflects the latest available figures as of Thursday morning; the number of people rescued and still trapped continues to be updated by authorities as the operation progresses.