In a tragic incident amid heavy rainfall, three labourers lost their lives when an under-construction wall collapsed in the Vasant Vihar area of Delhi. The incident, which occurred early on Friday morning, has raised the death toll from rain-related incidents in the capital to eight.
The Delhi Fire Services (DFS) were alerted to the collapse around 5:30 am on Friday. Following an extensive search and rescue operation, DFS officials reported that the bodies of three labourers were retrieved from the debris. Two of the deceased have been identified as Santosh Kumar Yadav, aged 19, and Santosh, aged 38. The third labourer remains unidentified. Efforts to clear the rubble involved the use of cranes and the pumping out of water from the foundation pit to facilitate the recovery of the bodies. The deceased were subsequently transported to Safdarjung Hospital.
Authorities have launched a comprehensive search operation to ensure no other individuals remain trapped under the rubble. Teams from the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), Delhi Disaster Management Authority (DDMA), and various civic agencies are actively involved in the ongoing operation. This incident follows a series of rain-related tragedies in Delhi as the monsoon season arrives with unprecedented intensity. On Friday alone, five people perished due to the extreme weather, marking the city’s highest single-day rainfall in June in 88 years.
Among the deceased were a cab driver who succumbed after a portion of a canopy collapsed at the Delhi airport, a 39-year-old man electrocuted in Rohini’s Prem Nagar area, and three individuals who drowned in New Usmanpur and Shalimar Bagh.
The heavy rains have exposed vulnerabilities in the city’s infrastructure, prompting concerns over the preparedness of Delhi to handle such extreme weather events. The recent fatalities highlight the urgent need for improved safety measures and infrastructure resilience to protect lives during the monsoon season.
