Thane, Oct 29 At least three people were killed and 20 others feared trapped when a portion of a five-storey building collapsed in Maharashtra's Ulhasnagar township here Thursday, police said. The rear portion of the 14-year-old building, Sanmukh Sadan, caved in suddenly in the afternoon, trapping the occupants.

Relief and rescue workers managed to extricate seven injured people from the debris by late evening and were searching for more trapped inside the collapsed building, an official from Thane police said.

The building was declared dangerous by the civic repair board. Eviction notices were also served on the residents and some repair works were undertaken to strengthen the structure.

Rescue work was hampered as vehicles were unable to pass through the narrow lane leading to the scene of the tragedy, the official said.

Ulhasnagar, considered the cradle of Sindhi settlement in the country, came into being after people of Sindh in Pakistan came and settled here after partition in 1947.

It is situated in Thane district, around 60 km northeast of Mumbai, on the banks of Ulhas River.

The town had witnessed rampant illegal construction during the realty boom of the 1990s, prompting intervention by the Bombay High Court.

Following a court order last year, several unauthorised buildings were razed. (IANS)