Billboard collapses near Pune due to strong winds, 3 days after Mumbai incident kills 16

The hoarding fell on a parked tempo, a car and a few two-wheelers on Thursday, but no injuries have been reported.

The incident occurred around 4.30 pm on Thursday in the city's Moshi area and videos showed officials from the fire department, the police, and the civic body at the spot, where efforts were on to clear the area of debris.

Manoj Lonkar, the fire officer-in-charge of the Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Corporation, said, "The fire brigade began work after information was received. The hoarding collapsed on a tempo, a car and a couple of two-wheelers, but there have been no casualties. The tempo which was trapped under the hoarding has been freed and gas-cutting is being done to remove the billboard."

In April last year, a hoarding collapsed on a service road in Pimpri Chinchwad, killing five people, who had taken shelter underneath due to strong winds. The civic body sought structural stability certificates from billboard owners, but many are yet to submit them for this year.

Mumbai's tragedy occurred on Monday when a billboard collapsed on a fuel station in Ghatkopar during a dust storm.

The number of people killed went up to 16 on Wednesday after the bodies of a 60-year-old man and his 59-year-old wife were recovered from their car inside the fuel station.

The hoarding was a 120X120-foot structure and the Mumbai civic body, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation has said it does not allow billboards with measurements exceeding 40X40 feet.