Moti Nagar factory location made rescue tough, search went on for 7 hours

Moti Nagar factory collapse: Neighbourhood’s narrow lanes, single point of entry made task difficult for rescue workers, eyewitnesses say

A single point of entry and exit, narrow lanes, absence of lights and the constant threat of standing walls falling — the task couldn’t get tougher for firefighters out to rescue people trapped under the debris of a collapsed factory in west Delhi’s Moti Nagar on Thursday night.

Fire department personnel carry out rescue work after a building collapsed due to an explosion in a factory at Sudarshan Park of Moti Nagar area in New Delhi, India, on Thursday (Sanchit Khanna/HT PHOTO)

The tough conditions ensured the rescue and search operation continued till 4 am on Friday, nearly seven hours after the firefighters received a call for help.

The last of the victims was found around 11 pm, more than two hours after the collapse. The man was alive but badly injured. Sniffer dogs were used to rule out the possibility of more people trapped in the debris.

When the firefighters arrived, nearly 20-25 minutes after getting a call at 8.47 pm, they believed local residents had eased their task. Around half-a-dozen people had already been rescued by locals, who used mobile phone torchlights to trace the trapped. They used bed sheets to bring out the victims safely.

Anurag, a 19-year-old who lived at a scrapyard next door, said a brick landed on his neck. “My neck hurt, but I pulled out two people who were calling out for help,” said Anurag, who was not counted as a victim as he did not seek hospitalisation.

Atul Garg, chief fire officer, Delhi Fire Services, said firefighters had a tough time. “The lanes were congested and the fire tenders had to be parked 400 metres away. We couldn’t carry cranes and other machines that would have hurried the pace of rescue,” Garg said.

A staircase that served as the lone entry and exit point into the factory was filled with bricks and debris. “Local residents weren’t able to help us with the layout or alternative access to the building. The absence of light was a problem until we arranged a generator. There was the constant fear of more collapses or blasts,” said the officer.

The impact of the blast was such that bricks, iron girders and debris affected at least five neighbouring plots and buildings, spread over 1,000 square yards.

The worst affected was a scrapyard next door where a dozen people were retiring for the night. Seven of them were preparing to sleep while five others were having dinner, said a worker, Rakesh.

“There was a sudden blast and the factory came crumbling down. I was buried till my chest but was conscious. Around 10 minutes later, I called out to two men looking around with torchlight. I fell unconscious soon after they pulled me out,” said Rakesh.

Ashok Kumar, who worked at the factory for the last three years, said he nearly got away before bricks landed on his head, legs and back. “I had climbed down 10 out of the 14 stairs when the blast occurred. I have a habit of counting stairs,” said Kumar, who remained buried for around seven minutes until rescuers found him.

Police said the toll was contained because the factory workers had assembled on the first floor of the three-storey structure. “Had they been on the ground floor, they would have been buried beyond escape,” said an investigator.