The wall collapse pulled with them cars that were parked inside the apartment complex.

A survivor of the wall-collapse incident in Pune's Kondhwa area said the noise of the crash was so loud that he felt the whole building had come crashing down on his shanty.

"Around 1.30 am, when we all were asleep, I heard a big noise and thought the entire building had collapsed on our houses," Bimal Sharma, one of the survivors of the wall-collapse tragedy, said.

"I found that my legs were trapped under the debris so I started shouting for help. Luckily some people from adjoining shanties heard me and rescued me," he added.

After being rescued, he realized that the compound wall had fallen on the shanties.

Fifteen people were killed and three injured after a portion of the wall of Alcon Stylus housing society fell on temporary shacks of labourers early yesterday morning after heavy rain.

Most were sleeping when the wall fell on their homes. Mr Sharma's brother was among those killed in the incident.

The wall collapse pulled with them cars that were parked inside the apartment complex. Dramatic visuals showed several cars stuck in debris.

Rescue personnel from the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and the fire department were called in to search for people stuck under the debris of the collapsed 12 to 15-foot high wall.

Pune received the second highest rainfall on Friday in June since 2010.