Heavy rains accompanied by strong winds pounded India's financial capital Mumbai on Monday, killing at least eight people, uprooting trees and causing power outages in many parts of the city, officials said.
The cause of the deaths is big sign Local officials said it fell on top of a crowd seeking shelter.
Late Monday, rescue workers from India's National Disaster Force and local police continued to rescue dozens of people trapped under rubble in the eastern suburbs of Ghatkopar. Videos on social media showed the billboard being shaken and toppled by the storm.
One of the witnesses, Swapnil Kupte, Said He said he and his friends had taken shelter at a gas station near the sign when the rain and wind started to get worse. He said many of those trapped under the collapse were women and children.
“All the cars, bikes and people that were there were stranded,” he told a local news agency. “We helped people get out and manage their escape.”
Mumbai is home to over 18 million people and is located on a peninsula surrounded by the ocean. Like many other cities in India, it is prone to severe flooding and rain-related incidents during the monsoon season, which runs from June to September.
In recent years, India has experienced extreme weather events including record-breaking heat waves and severe floods. The arrival of this year's monsoon has also caused damage and deaths in many other parts of the country.
A total of 64 people were injured and admitted to hospital when the billboard fell on Monday. Said Bhushan Gaglani, an employee of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation, which runs the city of Mumbai, said: One person was listed in critical condition.
It continued to rain sandstorm Some residents compared the scene to a scene from a Hollywood movie. The Mumbai Airport Authority said it had diverted more than a dozen incoming flights and suspended operations for more than an hour.
Monday's rain provided some relief from the sweltering heat, but many areas of the city were flooded and long traffic jams occurred.
