Five senior citizens escape injury as gazebo collapses at Sion civic garden

The collapsed cement-roofed gazebo at Mala Garden. Pic/Atul kamble

Five senior citizens narrowly escaped serious injury on August 12 when a gazebo-like seating structure suddenly collapsed at Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation-run Mala Garden in Sion East's Pratiksha Nagar. The incident occurred around 4.48 pm opposite Building T/18.

Heavy roof collapses

The ground-floor gazebo featured a galvanised iron frame topped with a heavy cement slab roof, which collapsed while the group was sitting underneath. Initial reports to the Mumbai Fire Brigade indicated that three to four people were trapped beneath the debris.

Before emergency response teams, police, and ambulances of 108 service arrived, bystanders rushed all injured residents to Sion hospital. All five are currently undergoing treatment and are stable.

The injured

Dhondiram Ghopkar, 65
Ganpat Ambole, 79
Pramila Jadhav, 68
Laxmi Shitliya, 65
Sunita More, 64

Probing cause

Bystanders help the injured residents before they are taken to Lokmanya Tilak Municipal General Hospital (Sion Hospital) in private vehicles. Pics/By Special Arrangement

The exact reason for the roof giving way is yet to be established. Civic authorities will conduct a structural assessment to determine whether the structure had deteriorated, whether there was a maintenance issue, or whether another factor caused the collapse.

Past incident

This is not the first incident involving a construction-related structure near Mala Garden. In June 2025, a portion of a tin-sheet enclosure at an adjacent construction site fell onto the road, damaging two cars. Nobody was injured. Further details about the condition of the structure and any action by the civic authorities are awaited. No police action has been taken yet.

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