Pune building collapse: Why it gets more challenging to rescue the last 8 people

3 min readPuneUpdated: Jul 9, 2026 10:35 PM IST

Rescue operations continue at the Moshi waste-to-energy landfill, on Thursday. (Express Photo by Soham Shah)

The partial collapse of the office building of the Antony Lara Renewable Energy Private Limited, the company that built and runs the Moshi Waste-to-Energy plant, is proving to be a difficult rescue operation for the various agencies involved—National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), Indian Army, PCMC Fire Department, PMRDA Fire Brigade, and police. After over 30 hours of rescue operations, eight people remain missing on July 9 below the rubble.

Officials said the building suffered a ‘cantilever collapse’ as garbage waste from the landfill collapsed on the side of the building after heavy rainfall on June 8.

Unlike a pancake collapse, in which the slab of a floor completely falls on the slab below it, a cantilever collapse means that one end of the floor slab has fallen while the other end remains intact.

The three story building had a total of 23 people in it when the collapse happened. Five people on the top floor had escaped in the beginning, whereas 9 people were rescued from the floor below through rescue operations throughout the night.

Cantilever collapse leaves ‘white spaces’ inside the collapsed structure. “White space means open spaces inside the debris in which there is oxygen presence and a victim can take oxygen and he can respire for some time. There is no white space in pancake collapse. It is minimal. So the people who were rescued yesterday were in that white space,” informed Deepak Tiwari, second-in-command at NDRF.

Explaining how the nine people were rescued alive, Tiwari said, “The people who were in the white space were making noise, so it was easy to target them. Because they are alive and they are in their senses. They can give you a voice. And you can direct yourself over there. And suppose white space is not there and the victim is not conscious or has succumbed to his injuries. So he won’t be able to give you a voice. In that case, you have to generalize your search.”

Currently, the NDRF is working on removing the debris from the structure and demolishing the unstable parts of it, he added. An NDRF team that had tried to enter the site this morning had to retreat as the structure showed signs of collapsing on them due to their movement, he added.

© The Indian Express Pvt Ltd

Soham Shah is a Correspondent with The Indian Express, based in Pune. A journalism graduate with a background in fact-checking, he brings a meticulous and research-oriented approach to his current reporting.

Professional Background

Role: Correspondent coverig education and city affairs in Pune.

Specialization: His primary beat is education, but he also maintains a strong focus on civic issues, public health, human rights, and state politics.

Key Strength: Soham focuses on data-driven reporting on school and college education, government reports, and public infrastructure.

Recent Notable Articles (Late 2025)

His late 2025 work highlights a transition from education-centric reporting to hard-hitting investigative and human-rights stories:

1. Investigations & Governance

"Express Impact: Mother's name now a must to download birth certificate from PMC site" (Dec 20, 2025): Reporting on a significant policy change by the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) following his earlier reports on gender inclusivity in administrative documents.

"44-Acre Mahar Land Controversy: In June, Pune official sought land eviction at Pawar son firm behest" (Nov 9, 2025): An investigative piece on real estate irregularities involving high-profile political families.

2. Education & Campus Life

Faculty crisis at SPPU hits research, admin work: 62% of govt-sanctioned posts vacant, over 75% in many depts (Sept 12, 2025): An investigative piece on professor vacancies at Savitribai Phule Pune University.

"Maharashtra’s controversial third language policy: Why National Curriculum Framework recommends a third language from Class 6" (July 2): This detailed piece unpacks reasons behind why the state's move to introduce a third language from class 1 was controversial.

"Decline in number of schools, teachers in Maharashtra but student enrolment up: Report" (Jan 2025): Analyzing discrepancies in the state's education data despite rising student numbers.

3. Human Rights & Social Issues

"Aanchal Mamidawar was brave after her family killed her boyfriend" (Dec 17, 2025): A deeply personal and hard-hitting opinion piece/column on the "crime of love" and honor killings in modern India.

"'People disrespect the disabled': Meet the man who has become face of racist attacks on Indians" (Nov 29, 2025): A profile of a Pune resident with severe physical deformities who became the target of global online harassment, highlighting issues of disability and cyber-bullying.

Signature Style

Soham is known for his civil-liberties lens. His reporting frequently champions the rights of the marginalized—whether it's students fighting for campus democracy, victims of regressive social practices, or residents struggling with crumbling urban infrastructure (as seen in his "Breathless Pune" contributions). He is adept at linking hyper-local Pune issues to larger national conversations about law and liberty.

X (Twitter): @SohamShah07 ... Read More

Click here to join Express Pune WhatsApp channel and get a curated list of our stories

Tags:

building collapse

pune