Pune Rains: 12 Dead, Schools and Colleges Shut Down

At least 12 people have been killed in rain-relatedincidents in Pune after unusually heavy downpour lashed the city since late Wednesdaynight. The rainfall stopped in the early morning hours on Thursday.

12 deaths have been confirmed so far by police anddistrict administration- seven from Pune city and five from adjoining villages.Police said that search operation is on for four missing persons.

Schools and colleges in the city will remain closed onThursday, as reported by news agency ANI. District Collector of PuneNavalkishore Ram ordered school closure in Pune and adjoining areas ofPurandar, Bhor, Baramati and Haveli.

Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis condoled the deaths and said that the state is providing all possible assistance needed.

In a series of tweets on Thursday morning, Fadnavissaid, "2 NDRF teams are deployed in Pune and 2 in Baramati, state government isalso closely monitoring the dam discharge."

Reports say that rescue teams recovered the bodies from three different areas of the city. Five bodies were recovered from the Parvati-Aranyeshwar area, one body was found inside a car which was found floating in floodwater on Singhnad Road and another was found in a canal in Sahakarnagar.

The fire brigade officials said that five people died when a compound wall collapsed in the Tangewali colony. The water overflowing from a nearby canal caused the wall to collapse. The officials said that at least 3-4 people are still missing in the incident.

At least three moreincidents of wall collapse were reported since the late hours of Wednesdaynight, from Camp, Kothrud and Katraj areas.