An under-construction section of a building at a waste-to-energy plant in Moshi in Pune district collapsed on Wednesday (July 8, 2026) afternoon trapping 16 workers. Seven of them have been rescued and efforts are on to bring out another nine workers.

The structure, being developed by the Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Corporation under a public-private partnership model, collapsed after a huge mound of legacy waste piled on the premises came loose during heavy rain and hit the building, said the corporation’s commissioner Vijay Suryawanshi.

Emergency responders, including disaster management units and local police, and senior municipal officers reached the accident site. Ambulances were pressed into service. A municipal spokesperson said rescue teams used equipment to lift concrete slabs and steel girders even as family members of the workers gathered at the site.

In a separate incident, safety railings of a bridge some 500m away from the collapsed structure were damaged and one its slabs displaced. The bridge across a local waterbody is motorable. Authorities have not established a connection between the two incidents and said that each case is being examined separately.

(With inputs from PTI)