Thane (Maharashtra), May 15 (IANS): At least four persons were killed and 7 hurt when the slab of a residential building crashed in the Ulhasnagar town of the district here on Saturday afternoon, officials said.

Besides, another 10 persons were rescued and search is on for some missing persons suspected to be buried under the debris, according to the Thane Fire Brigade.

The incident occurred around 1.45 pm when the slab on the top floor of the ground-plus four-storied building, Mohini Palace in Camp 1 suddenly came crashing down.

As it fell it brought down other slabs on the lower floors taking along several of the residents, many of whom were trapped in the rubble.

Teams of the NDRF and Thane Disaster Response Force, police and fire brigade besides locals rushed to the spot and started rescue operations in which at least 10 persons have been rescued so far after five hours.

Among the victims were a minor boy Monty Parshe, 12, two women Savitri Parshe, 60 and Aishwarya Dudhwal, 24, and Harish Dudhwal, 40, while one Sandhya Dudhwal is reported missing in the debris.

The district administration has announced a compensation of Rs.5-lakhs to the kin of each deceased victim and further search is on to trace the other missing persons amid fears of the Cyclone Tauktae intensifying in Thane.

Housing over 500,000 people, Ulhasnagar was one of the earliest settlements in the country housing Sindhi refugees to migrated to India from Pakistan during the Partition in 1947.