New Delhi: At least three people, including a pregnant woman and a child, were killed and eight others were injured after a multi-storey building collapsed in northeast Delhi’s New Seemapuri area on Wednesday afternoon, officials said.
The Delhi Fire Services received a call about the collapse at around 3:30 pm and immediately rushed fire tenders to the spot. Teams from the Delhi Police, Delhi Disaster Management Authority (DDMA), National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) and Delhi Urban Shelter Improvement Board (DUSIB) also joined the rescue operation.
Eight injured people, including a three-year-old child, were rescued and shifted to hospitals, police said. A body of a child aged around one-and-a-half years was also recovered from the rubble. Rescue teams continued searching the debris for anyone who could still be trapped underneath.
Local residents were among the first to assist in the rescue operation, using their hands to remove bricks and debris and helping trapped people reach safety. Visuals from the site showed residents carrying an injured woman away from the collapsed structure. Heavy machinery, including excavators, was later deployed to clear the rubble.
The exact cause of the collapse has not yet been established. Authorities are examining whether damage caused by tremors following an earthquake in Uttarakhand on Tuesday evening may have contributed to the incident.
According to the MCD, local residents said cracks had developed in the building after the earthquake and that the owner had been in the process of vacating the structure. The civic body said the building was around 20-25 years old and was occupied when it collapsed.
There was, however, a discrepancy in the initial description of the structure. Police said it stood on a plot measuring around 225 square feet, while the MCD described it as a three-storey structure in a jhuggi-jhopri area spread across about 22 square yards near Idgah Machhli Mandi in the DUSIB area.
The collapse also damaged walls of an adjoining building and the boundary wall of a nearby mosque, the MCD said. Families involved in ragpicking were reportedly present in the area, with some people collecting plastic and other recyclable material when they became trapped.
Locals claimed they could hear voices from beneath the debris as rescue efforts continued. One resident said locals had rescued several people and provided emergency assistance before taking them to hospitals.
The incident comes nearly a month after a building collapse in southwest Delhi’s Satya Niketan on September 6 left seven people dead and 12 injured.
Meanwhile, the Delhi Traffic Police advised commuters to avoid the Seemapuri area as traffic movement was affected around the Seemapuri roundabout, DLF Bhopura and adjoining roads. People were urged not to stop, park or gather near the site to ensure clear passage for ambulances and emergency vehicles.
