A three-storey under-construction building partially collapsed near Chawri Bazar Metro station in Old Delhi on Thursday morning, killing two people and injuring one, while rescue teams continued searching the rubble for anyone who may still be trapped.
The collapse occurred at around 9:50 am in Gali Sitara, in the Chawri Bazar area. The incident took place during the busy Diwali shopping period, when the narrow lanes of the old market were likely to be crowded, according to the report. The collapsed structure was described as a three-storey building under construction.
Delhi Police and the Delhi Fire Service reached the site after receiving information about the collapse. Six fire tenders, rescue vehicles and water tankers were deployed for the operation. Senior officials were also present and supervising the response.
Two bodies have been recovered from the debris, according to information attributed to the National Disaster Response Force and Delhi Police. Police also reported that one person was injured. Rescue workers were continuing to remove the rubble carefully while checking whether other people remained trapped beneath it.
The location created operational difficulties for the emergency teams. Chawri Bazar is characterised by narrow lanes and dense urban development, making it difficult to bring heavy equipment and rescue vehicles close to the affected building. Cranes and assistance from local residents were being used to help clear the debris.
The report did not identify the victims or provide details about the injured person’s condition. It also did not state what caused the building or the collapsed portion to fail, whether the construction had received approvals, or whether any structural safety notice had been issued before the incident. These details were not immediately available in the supplied report.
The collapse comes after other recent building-related incidents in Delhi. A few days earlier, two people were killed when two slabs of an old house collapsed in the Milan Garden area of northeast Delhi during work to add a new floor. The report also referred to a five-storey paying guest accommodation building collapse in South Delhi’s Satya Niketan on September 6, in which seven people died.
The immediate priority at Chawri Bazar remained the search and rescue operation. Authorities were expected to provide further official information on the number of people trapped, the condition of the injured person and the circumstances surrounding the construction-related collapse as the operation progressed.
