The death toll in the partial collapse of a residential building in a northwestern suburb in Mumbai rose to 26 on Thursday as rescue operations continued to extricate those trapped under rubble.

A portion of the 20-year-old Laxmi Chhaya building at Babhai Naka in suburban Borivali collapsed on Wednesday and rescue workers have cleared only part of the debris since then.

The dead included eight men, 13 women and five children, police said.

The injured are being treated at the nearby Bhagwati Hospital.

The rescue operation continued through the night with workers proceeding carefully to prevent harm to those trapped under the debris, fire service officials said.

"Many are feared to be still trapped under the debris but there is still no definite number and rescue efforts could take up to two days," an official said.

A large number of relatives and friends of the victims gathered at Bhagwati Hospital. One of these persons, Jayesh Mehta, said three of his relatives were brought to the

hospital but were declared dead on arrival.      

"My sister-in-law is still trapped and we are hoping that she will be removed safely," he said.

Shopkeepers, customers and some residents are suspected to be amongst those trapped, police said, without giving any approximate numbers of those trapped. According to sources, residents of the building had recently complained to the managing body about the renovation work being carried out by a jeweller on the ground floor.

Rajesh Karkera adds:

Thirty-seven persons have been extricated from the building's rubble so far.

Among them was a teacher who survived the ordeal without a scratch, even as the student along with her was killed in the mishap.

Three fire officers were also hurt during the rescue operations. One of them, who had his right hand attended to in a fully-equipped medical van on standby, promptly went back to rescue work.

Image: A mechanical digger sifts through the debris of the collapsed building.
Photograph: Getty Images