3 IAS aspirants killed as coaching centre floods in Delhi; probe ordered

The incident took place at Rau’s IAS Study Circle at Bada Bazar Marg. Delhi Fire Services (DFS) chief Atul Garg said that the fire control room received a call at 7pm regarding the incident

New Delhi: At least three civil services aspirants were killed allegedly by drowning at a coaching centre in central Delhi’s Old Rajinder Nagar after the institute’s basement was flooded with water following rainfall in the capital on Saturday evening, police said.

NDRF, fire services at the incident scene in Old Rajinder Nagar (HT Photo)

The incident took place at Rau’s IAS Study Circle at Bada Bazar Marg. Deputy commissioner of police (DCP) (central) Harsha Vardhan said that the three students included two women and a man.

Police, along with the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and Delhi Fire Services (DFS), carried out a rescue operation and the bodies of the three students were recovered in the wee hours on Sunday, the DCP said.

Police said the bodies have been preserved at a city mortuary for postmortem.

A senior police officer said that the deceased were identified as Taniya Soni, Shreya Yadav, and Naveen Dalvin, all aged between 25 and 30.

Police said that there were around 30 students inside the coaching centre when it started flooding. While 13 to 14 of them were rescued and taken to the hospital, others escaped the site.

Delhi Fire Services (DFS) chief Atul Garg said that the fire control room received a call at 7pm regarding the incident.

Speaking to the media on Sunday, Garg said that five fire tenders reached the incident spot and the rescuers found waterlogging in the basement of Rau’s IAS Study Circle at Bada Bazar Marg in Old Rajendra Nagar.

“The owner of the institute informed us that three to four students were missing... .Since the basement was flooded and the road outside the institute was also waterlogged, clearing water became difficult. Teams of the NDRF and other agencies also joined the rescue operation,” said Garg.

He added that around 10.30pm, the rescue and search teams pulled out two bodies, and the third body was taken out around 1:30am.

DCP Vardhan said that the basement got flooded due to waterlogging caused by the heavy rainfall. The basement was dark, which hampered the rescue operation.

“...We are investigating how the basement got flooded... it appears that flooding happened very fast,” he said.

Meanwhile, Delhi minister Atishi ordered an immediate investigation into the matter and ordered the chief secretary to carry out a magisterial inquiry and submit a report within 24 hours.

“...I am taking updates on the incident every minute. A magistrate inquiry has been ordered to investigate the matter. Whoever is responsible for this incident will not be spared,” she said.