Thane, Aug 7 (IANS): A two-storey building collapsed in Maharashtra's Thane district on Sunday, killing the landlord and his wife, police said. Six people are believed to be trapped under the debris.

The building, Mahadev Nivas, at Hanuman Tekdi in Bhiwandi, collapsed around 7 a.m., catching the occupants unawares, said police officer Ravindra Patil. Bhiwandi is located about 35 km north of Mumbai.

The fire brigade and disaster management teams from Thane and Kalyan rushed to the site and managed to rescue four people from the debris.

The deceased have been identified as landlord Sajjanlal Gupta and his wife Sitodevi, according to Patil.

A search is on to rescue the six members of a family feared buried under the rubble, the officials said.

The building had been declared "dangerous" and the owners had been served an evacuation notice which was ignored by many residents, said local legislator Kapil Patil.

This is second building collapse in a week in Bhiwandi which was battered by heavy rains in the past few days.

On July 31, a building crash in Gaibinagar claimed nine lives.