A Delhi building collapse in Harsh Vihar left at least two people feared trapped under rubble on Sunday evening, after a slab gave way at an under-construction structure in northeast Delhi. Fire services, National Disaster Response Force teams, Delhi Police and other agencies were deployed for a rescue operation that continued into the night.
The structure was originally a single-storey building on which another floor was being constructed. A slab on the first floor reportedly collapsed at about 6.45 pm, bringing down parts of the building. Local residents began removing debris and searching for people who might have been inside before emergency teams reached the site.
Five fire tenders, NDRF teams, civil defence personnel, National Disaster Management Authority representatives, paramilitary personnel and Delhi Police staff were involved in the response. Four ambulances were also sent to the location.
Rescue officials faced difficulties because the area had narrow entry and exit points and was enclosed by surrounding structures. Additional DCP Sandeep Lamba said the layout initially made it difficult for responders to identify the exact building that had collapsed.
Police and residents said two people might have been trapped beneath the debris. Rescue teams used sniffer dogs and mobile torches while searching the site. Video from the location showed personnel calling out to anyone who might be alive under the rubble. The debris included bricks and exposed reinforcement bars that had been bent and stripped of concrete.
A local resident said the old roof slab had been weak and that a new slab was being constructed to replace it. The resident said the old slab suddenly gave way, causing the newly built slab to collapse as well. Dilip, who was working at the site with 16 labourers, also said the new roof slab had just been built before the incident.
The report did not establish the final number of people inside the building or confirm whether anyone had died or been rescued when the operation was under way. Police and rescue agencies continued searching the collapsed structure through the night.
The incident follows other recent building-collapse cases reported in Delhi. Earlier this month, at least four people were killed when a residential building collapsed in Seemapuri. In September, seven people died after a five-storey building collapsed in Satya Niketan following the removal of a ground-floor retaining wall to merge two shops. The authorities’ rescue operation at Harsh Vihar was continuing at the time of reporting.
