A building collapse at a paying-guest accommodation in Delhi’s Satya Niketan killed seven people and injured five others, including two who were critically hurt, according to a report by the Times of India. Among those rescued was 19-year-old Neeraj Bawa, a commerce student who was trapped beneath the rubble for about three hours before being pulled out by an NDRF team.
Bawa had returned to his room at the Hostel Daze PG on Sunday after rain disrupted his plans. He had just entered the room when the walls around him collapsed, leaving him under the debris. He called friends and pleaded for help before sending them his live location, according to the report.
One of his friends, Vishnu, said rescuers used the location shared by Bawa to identify where he was trapped. The group began clearing debris but had to retreat after people warned that an adjacent building could also collapse. Police then prevented them from entering the site again, the report said.
A phone belonging to Bawa was later thrown through a small opening in the rubble, helping friends confirm his location. He was eventually rescued by an NDRF response team from the same area identified through the live location. Bawa was taken to the AIIMS Trauma Centre, where he underwent surgery on Sunday and a second operation on Tuesday. His family said he remained in critical condition.
Bawa’s relatives in Jammu’s Kathua had been trying to contact him after learning that a building had collapsed in Satya Niketan. A relative, Ashok Kumar, said Bawa’s sister recognised the rakhi on his wrist while watching television coverage of the rescue, which helped the family identify him as one of the injured students.
Bawa had moved to Delhi two years ago to study commerce at Motilal Nehru College in Delhi University’s South Campus. He had been campaigning for the upcoming DUSU election and had spent the previous 20 days with NSUI candidate Virr Chatrath, according to the report.
His friend Nitish Chib, who was also staying at the PG, was rescued several minutes before Bawa. Chib told his mother that he and Bawa had been separated by a concrete block and that he could hear Bawa calling for help. Chib suffered a head injury and was receiving treatment at AIIMS in stable condition.
Residents described the collapsed PG as one of the more expensive accommodations in the area. Friends of the students said Bawa and Chib each paid about Rs 15,000 for a bed in the building. The report did not provide details on the building’s construction history, approvals, structural condition or any official findings on the cause of the collapse.
The rescue operation took place after police restricted access to the site because of the reported risk from an adjacent structure. The immediate official next steps, including inspection of the collapsed building and action concerning the safety of nearby paying-guest accommodations, were not detailed in the supplied report.
