One dead, three hurt after house collapses in north-east Delhi

Police identified the deceased man as 60-year-old Kanti Lal. His body was buried deep in the debris, and it took rescue teams over three hours to recover his body

A 60-year-old man died and three others were injured after a building collapsed in north-east Delhi’s Nand Nagri area on Saturday afternoon, after a short spell of rain in the morning.

Rescue operations underway at Nand Nagri in Delhi on Saturday. (Sanchit Khanna/ HT Photo)

Police identified the deceased man as 60-year-old Kanti Lal. His body was buried deep in the debris, and it took rescue teams over three hours to recover his body.

The fire department said six fire tenders reached Nand Nagri’s Block E soon after the Delhi Police informed them about the collapse around 1.30pm on Saturday.

Three people — Dhani Ram (65), Anaro Devi (65) and Raj Kumar (64) — were rescued from the wreckage and taken to the nearby Guru Teg Bahadur hospital, where they are being treated for their injuries. Devi was rescued by local residents before the police and fire teams reached the spot.

Residents of the area told the rescue team that Lal, who lived in an apartment a few buildings away from the one that collapsed, was still missing. His family told police that Lal would often chat with Dhani Ram and other locals at a designated spot below the building.

Around 5.30pm, Lal was pulled out from the debris and rushed to the hospital, where he was declared dead on arrival.

During the day, chief minister Arvind Kejriwal tweeted that he was monitoring the situation through the district administration. “All possible help is being provided for relief and rescue. I myself have been continuously monitoring the incident through the district administration,” he tweeted.

The police said they have launched an inquiry into the incident, and are investigating what led to the collapse.

Locals have told police that the building was constructed 15-20 years ago. “The construction of buildings in these areas is poor. It was in a dilapidated condition. The morning rains could have led to the collapse,” said an investigating officer.

“The house is owned by one Dhani Ram who lived with his family members there. It was a two-storey building with shops in the ground floor. At the time of the collapse, he was inside with the other victims who are his relatives. In all, four people were trapped in the collapse out of which three survived. We are probing what led to the collapse,” said a senior police officer.