Seemapuri collapse: Building owner yet to be traced, DNA test of body parts starts

DNA tests are being conducted on recovered body parts, while police search for the owner and investigate possible links to demolition work nearby.

NEW DELHI: Two days after a five-storey building collapsed in east Delhi’s Seemapuri, killing at least four people, building owner Mohammad Anwar is yet to be traced, according to officers aware of the investigation, who added that DNA examination to identify body parts recovered from the debris has started.

MCD demolished three buildings in New Seemapuri on Friday (ANI Video Grab)

The post-mortem examinations of three women who died in the collapse have been conducted, officers said. The final toll could rise depending on the results of the DNA examination.

“The process of DNA examination has been initiated to identify the recovered body parts. We are also trying to trace the building owner,” a senior police officer said, requesting anonymity.

The five-storey structure collapsed around 3.30pm on Wednesday in the congested lanes of New Seemapuri, trapping at least 11 people. The deceased were identified as Hazra Bibi, 56, her niece Nusrat, 33, Gulafsa, 21, who was four months pregnant, along with a child aged around three or four years. Five body parts were recovered from the debris, and their identities are yet to be established.

Demolition work in an adjacent building, involving vibrating machines over the preceding three to four days, may have triggered the collapse, northeast Delhi district magistrate Ajay Kumar told HT.