‘Formed human chain’: How students, locals started rescue ops before NDRF arrived at Delhi building collapse

Among the many things in the pile of debris that was removed by them were plates, bottles, broken pipes, twisted iron roads and others.

A Sunday that started just like any other day in Delhi's Satya Niketan, a residential hub housing several Delhi University students, turned tragic when a five-storey building came crushing down at around 1.30 pm, killing at least seven people, injuring dozens, and trapping several others as figures continue to rise amid uncertainty.

Even when cranes arrived to move bigger chunks of the rubble, the locals and students continued removing the smaller parts to help the rescue mission. (Sanchit Khanna/HT Photo)

When the building, which was being used as a boys paying guest accommodation, collapsed, it was the students and locals around the collapse site who became the first responders and started digging through the debris to rescue people as relief teams were still on their way.

‘Formed a human chain, people started helping’

Recounting what had happened, Abhishek Mishra, a first-year student at Delhi University's Law Faculty, who was near the building at the time of collapse, said that it felt like an “earthquake”.

"We heard a very loud rumbling sound and suddenly the chairs we were sitting on started shaking. It felt like an earthquake. Then we saw a huge cloud of dust moving towards the right," news agency PTI quoted Mishra as saying.