Part of under-construction house collapses in south Delhi, two rescued

Two labourers trapped in a collapsed building in south Delhi were rescued after a four-hour operation. No other bodies were found at the scene.

Two labourers trapped after an under-construction building collapsed in south Delhi’s Ambedkar Nagar on Thursday evening, were rescued after a four-hour-long operation, the Delhi Police said.

Fire department officers conduct rescue work at the under-construction building where the top two floors collapsed, in south Delhi’s Dakshinpuri. (Vipin Kumar/HT Photo)

Ankit Chouhan, additional deputy commissioner of police (south), said that a PCR call was received at 4.24pm at Ambedkar Nagar police station about two floors of a building collapsing at J-Block, DDA market, in south Delhi’s Dakshinpuri. Three or four labourers were believed to be trapped in the building.

“We rescued two people,” he said, adding that no other bodies was found from the spot.

He added that the two rescued were referred to the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) trauma centre.

The four-floor building, which is tucked into a narrow lane, was cordoned off by the police on Thursday evening. According to residents, the first two floors of the building were functioning as a primary school.

Kaushal Agarwal, who runs a general store in the lane, said, “At around 4pm, we heard a very loud noise. When I came out, I saw that the top two floors of the building, which were under construction, had collapsed. Not a single brick had moved on the first two floors.”

At around 9pm, officials said that they had searched the spot and said that no other bodies were found.

Residents, however, claimed that there were more workers in the building.

DCP (south) Chandan Choudhary said that only two people were trapped in the incident. “Both have been rescued and are at the AIIMS trauma centre. Both are safe and out of danger,” she said.

The DCP added that the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) team, which was leading the rescue, ended the operations.

Meanwhile, Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) said in a statement that construction on the third and fourth floor of the building was stopped by the civic body but was started again.

“The roof of the T-iron with stone slab collapsed. Action under DMC (Delhi Municipal Corporation) Act have already been taken,” it said.