Two killed in Delhi’s Seelampur house collapse

According to the police, they received a call around 10.30pm at Seelampur police station reporting that a house has collapsed and some people are trapped under the debris.

A 65-year-old man and his daughter, 21, died while three others were injured when an under construction multi-storey building next to their house in northeast Delhi’s Seelampur collapsed late on Monday night.

A 65-year-old man and his daughter, 21, died while three others were injured when an under construction multi-storey building next to their house in northeast Delhi’s Seelampur collapsed late on Monday night. (Sonu Mehta/HT Photo)

Police said they have arrested an elderly man and his son. The two men own the building and were getting it constructed despite the victims’ repeated warning of construction being carried out dangerously, police said.

The man who died was identified as 65-year-old Mohammed Yaseen who lived in K-Block JJ Colony in Seelampur with his family. His daughter, who was also killed in the collapse, was identified as 21-year-old Moni.

According to the police, they received a call around 10.30pm at Seelampur police station reporting that a house has collapsed and some people are trapped under the debris. Deputy commissioner of police (northeast) Atul Thakur said a police team was rushed to the spot and were soon joined by officials of Delhi Fire Services, National Disaster Response Force and District Disaster Management Authority to carry out rescue operations.

“We managed to pull out five people from the debris and all of them were rushed to Guru Teg Bahadur hospital. While Yaseen and his daughter Moni were pronounced dead, the other three, Arman, 33, Sahajan Begam, 33, and one Samshudin were admitted for treatment,” Thakur said.

Local residents told police that Yaseen and Moni lived in the house with some other family members. Those injured are also their family members and relatives. Most of them work as contractual labourers, police said.

DCP Thakur said, preliminary probe revealed that Yaseen had objected to the construction next to their house. “It has come to our notice that Yaseen often objected to Ikramuddin, a 60-year-old man who owns the building and was getting the second and third floor constructed. Both Ikramuddin and his 32-year-old son Gufran, a carpenter have been arrested. They have been booked under section 304 IPC ,” the DCP said.