A major rescue operation was underway after a multi-storey building collapsed in Delhi’s Satya Niketan area on Sunday afternoon, leaving one person dead and at least three others critically injured. Several other people, including students, were feared trapped beneath the rubble.
A building collapsed near Satya Niketan in southwest Delhi on Sunday afternoon, leaving several people feared trapped beneath the debris, police said. The exact number of people trapped is yet to be determined. Eight fire tenders have been deployed at the site. Local police personnel, the fire brigade, CAT ambulance and other emergency services are engaged in rescue and relief operations. “Deeply concerned by the building collapse incident at Satya Niketan, RK Puram. Teams from DDMA, NDRF, Delhi Fire Services, Delhi Police, MCD, CATS and Civil Defence are carrying out rescue operations on a war footing. The adjacent building has been vacated as a precautionary measure. Six workers were rescued from the debris during a rescue operation that continued for more than three hours and involved the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), the fire department and Delhi Police. It had also informed the police and district administration about the issue.
A police official present at the site said a preliminary inquiry indicated that around 40 to 50 people were suspected to have been inside the building at the time of the collapse. The Delhi Fire Services received information about the building collapse at around 1:30 pm, following which a rescue operation was launched. A PCR call was received by the South Campus police station at around 1:34 pm, reporting the collapse of a building near Nanakpura Gurdwara.
The collapsed building was being used as a boys’ paying guest (PG) accommodation, according to local residents. Every possible effort is being made to safely rescue those trapped and provide immediate assistance to the affected families,” the CM said in a post on X.
The South Delhi Municipal Corporation had then stated that the building had been flagged a month before the collapse over alleged illegal structural alterations.
