Thane, Aug 4 (IANS): Twelve people were killed and 15 others injured when a three-storey building crashed in Naupada area in Maharashtra's Thane city on Tuesday morning, officials said.

Krishna Nivas building, built around 50 years ago, collapsed suddenly around 2.30 a.m. while its occupants were asleep.

"We were sleeping when suddenly the floor began to move. Even before we could run to safety, the building collapsed with a thunder," a shaken survivor told the media.

Fire fighters reached the spot within 20 minutes, followed by the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), and extricated three people from the debris.

NDRF deputy commandant S. Gawde said his team of 50 and a sniffer dog rescued another four people from under the debris.

The building had 16 flats, with five families living as tenants on the upper floors. The ground floor was vacant.

The tenants and landlord were embroiled in a legal dispute and the building had not undergo a regular structural stability test, a Thane Municipal Corporation official said.

The official said the building was legal and not dilapidated and there were no complaints regarding structural problems.

Thane Collector Ashwini Joshi and Guardian Minister Eknath Shinde and other officials rushed to the site to supervise relief operations.

The deceased were Saurabh P. Bhatt, 54, Ramchandra P. Bhatt, 65, Mira R. Bhatt, 58, Rachita R. Bhatt, 22, Arun D. Sawant, 62, Amit A. Sawant, 40, Bhakti A. Sawant, 32, Anaya A. Khot, 7, Priya A. Patel, 14, Manda A. Nene, 70, Rashmi K. Mange, 25 and Mahadeo R. Barve, 60.

This is the second major building collapse in Thane district in a week.

On July 29, the Matruchhaya building collapsed killing nine occupants and injuring five others in the nearby town of Thakurli.

Thane legislator Jitendra Awhad expressed concern over the two collapses and demanded a probe into how the buildings could crash without warning.

Shinde said the only remedy was to redevelop old and dilapidated buildings.