A residential building in northeast Delhi's Seemapuri area catastrophically collapsed on Wednesday, claiming three lives, including a pregnant woman and two children, and injuring eight others. Emergency services, alongside local residents, engaged in a swift rescue effort, extricating eleven individuals from the rubble.
Among the deceased were Gulafsa, 21, who was approximately four months pregnant, an unidentified girl around 12 years old, and a child roughly one and a half years old, also yet to be identified. Eight individuals sustained injuries, including Momin Mirja (56), Abdaan (3), Abdul Rehman (28), Devruddin (28), Salma (50), Chote (34), Sakina (35), and Samad (30). All injured received immediate medical attention at Rajiv Gandhi Super Speciality Hospital in Tahirpur.
Authorities suspect that structural cracks, possibly exacerbated by tremors from an earthquake that struck Uttarakhand on Tuesday evening, contributed to the disaster. Local residents reported hearing the trapped victims and indicated that the building owner was in the process of vacating the premises following the appearance of these cracks.
Descriptions of the collapsed structure varied, with police identifying it as a four-storey building constructed on a 225 square-foot plot. The Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD), however, characterized it as a three-storey dwelling within a jhuggi-jhopri area spanning about 22 square yards near the Idgah Machhli Mandi. The MCD confirmed the building, approximately 20-25 years old, was occupied at the time, and its collapse also brought down walls of an adjacent structure and a nearby mosque's boundary.
Emergency calls reached the Delhi Fire Services around 3:30 pm, prompting a swift, multi-agency response. Teams from Delhi Police, the Delhi Disaster Management Authority (DDMA), the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), the MCD, and the Delhi Urban Shelter Improvement Board (DUSIB), alongside local volunteers, engaged in extensive search and rescue operations. Initial inquiries by the MCD revealed that families involved in ragpicking occupied the area, with some reportedly collecting plastic and other materials when the building gave way, trapping them beneath the debris. Rescue operations remain ongoing as teams continue clearing debris and searching the affected site.
Image: sahilonline.org
📰 Source: Sahil Online