NEW DELHI, Aug. 23 (Xinhuanet) -- At least 11 people were killed and several injured when a four-storey residential building collapsed in Indian economic hub Mumbai early Tuesday morning, Indo-Asian News Service reported.

    

People gather at the site of the collapsed building in Mumbai, India August 23, 2005. (Xinhua/AFP photo)

The 125-year-old building, located in a populous middle-class community in Mumbai, collapsed around 1:30 am when most residents of its 16 flats were asleep, local officials said.

    At least 50 people have been rescued and many more were feared buried under the rubble, the local authority said.

    Mumbai Police and government agencies launched rescue operations.

    "Initially we faced some difficulty in conducting rescue because the lanes that lead to the building are very narrow. The youths in the area came forward to help those trapped under the debris," said Johny Joseph, commissioner of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC).

    "We were fast asleep when we heard a loud noise. Initially, we suspected it to be a bomb blast but when we came out we saw the collapsed building," said Abdul Sheikh, who lives in a building next door

    The injured have been sent to hospital. Hospital officials say at least five of the injured are in critical condition.

    The residents of the building would be relocated and 100,000 rupees (about 2,298 US dollars) would be paid as compensation to victims' families, said Suresh Karande of the Maharashtra Housing and Development Authority.

    Mumbai has 18,000 dangerous old buildings. Five were killed in a building collapse in June this year in the western city suburb of Khar. Enditem