Mumbai Weather Report: Giant Billboard Falls On People After Dust Storm, Heavy Rain; 8 Dead, 60 Injured

In a tragic incident, 8 people lost their lives and more than 60 got injured after a giant billboard fell over them in the Ghatkopar area of Mumbai due to a strong dust storm and heavy rain, said reports. According to the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), the billboard collapse affected the Police Ground Petrol Pump, Eastern Express Highway, Pantnagar, and Ghatkopar East areas. Soon after being reported, rescue teams swiftly reached the spot to help people stuck and injured.

A video of the massive billboard collapsing is doing round the internet and some people from the background can be heard calling for help. "They are dead...they are dead," some by-passers said in the viral video.

People witnessed strong winds, lightning and rain that totally changed the weather and gave people relief from the scorching heat. Earlier today, the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) issued an alert for rain and thunderstorms. The weather monitoring department said that gusty winds between 50-60 kmph speed are likely to occur at isolated places in the districts of Palghar and Thane during the next 3-4 hours.

Flight operations at Mumbai airport remained suspended for more than one hour to inclement weather and dust storms, the private airport operator said. This resulted in as many as 15 flights getting diverted to different airports, it added. Operations later resumed at 5.03 pm, the airport operator said in the statement.

"Due to the inclement weather and dust storms in the city, Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport (CSMIA) temporarily suspended flight operations for around 66 minutes due to low visibility and gusty winds," the airport operator said in a statement. Stating that the operations resumed at 17:03 hours, the statement added, "during this period, the airport witnessed 15 diversions".

CSMIA had only last week completed its pre-monsoon runway maintenance successfully to ensure safe and smooth aircraft operations.