India’s Catholic Bishops' condolences for victims of Mumbai building collapse
08 April, 2013 - India’s Catholic Bishops have expressed their sadness over the death
74 people who were killed after a residential building under construction in the Mumbai
suburb of Thane collapsed on Friday. “We offer our deep condolences to the families
of those killed in the tragic incident and pray for the many that are injured for
their fast recovery,” said a brief condolence message issued by Fr. Dominic D’Abreo,
spokesperson of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India (CBCI), the apex body of
the Catholic Church in the country. The bishops have called upon the authorizes
“to strictly enforce all norms and regulations in constructing buildings so that such
horrible tragedies are averted.” They appealed to those “engaged in construction
industry to keep the safety and security of the people as the foremost value.” “We
express our solidarity with the victims of this tragedy and offer moral support to
those who are suffering on account of this horrible incident,” the bishops said.
Police said on Sunday they have arrested nine people, including builders, police officers
and municipality officials, for colluding to illegally construct the eight-story residential
building that collapsed. Police commissioner K.P. Raghuvanshi said that police will
formally charge the nine with culpable homicide which could end up in life sentence.
(Source: CBCI)