The death toll in the Chawri Bazar building collapse in Old Delhi rose to six on Saturday after rescue teams recovered four more bodies from the debris of the under-construction structure near Ajmeri Gate. Delhi Police also arrested the building owner and three contractors in connection with the collapse.
The four workers recovered during the extended rescue operation were identified as Vipin Ram, 42, Pankaj Sharma, 45, Shantu, 35, and Dinesh Sah. All were from Bihar’s Khagaria district. Their bodies were taken to Lok Nayak Jai Prakash Hospital for further proceedings.
The building owner, identified by police as Saimullah, was arrested on Saturday. Police said all four accused, including the three contractors, had been arrested. The report did not specify the charges or provide details of the building’s approvals, construction status or any preliminary finding on what caused the collapse.
The structure collapsed at 9.48am on Thursday while around 15 labourers were reportedly working at the site, according to local residents. Two workers, Kishori Sah, 40, and Sanjeet, 45, were among those initially pulled out but later died from their injuries. Two others, Sahdev Chaudhary, 25, and Firoz, 37, were injured and reported to be out of danger.
A joint rescue operation involving Delhi Police, the National Disaster Response Force, the Delhi Fire Service and the Municipal Corporation of Delhi continued into its third day. Six fire tenders were deployed. However, the narrow lanes around the site prevented heavy machinery, including earthmovers, from reaching the building, forcing rescuers to work manually with smaller equipment and slowing the operation.
The collapse has also left families and fellow workers waiting outside the site for information about those who may have been trapped. Relatives described the personal cost of the deaths, including that of Pankaj Sharma, who had returned to Delhi four months earlier to work at the construction site after spending years in the city in search of employment. His cousin, Shambhu Kumar, said Sharma was the sole breadwinner for his mother, wife and four children and had planned to return home for Chhath Puja.
Raja Kumar, the nephew of Vipin Ram, questioned the pace of the rescue operation. The authorities have not announced a final casualty assessment beyond the six deaths and two injured workers reported so far. Police and civic agencies are continuing proceedings at the collapse site, while the arrests remain the immediate official action reported in the case.
