Portion of under-construction building collapses in North East Delhi, 2 feared trapped

An excavator at site as rescue operation is underway after a slab of a house under construction collapsed in northeast Delhi's Harsh Vihar. (PTI Photo)

A portion of an under-construction building collapsed in North East Delhi’s Harsh Vihar area on Sunday evening with at least two people feared trapped, said police. National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) personnel. among others, were deployed  at the site for rescue operations.

According to  Delhi Fire Service (DFS) officials, a call came around 6:46 pm to report that a building had collapsed in Milan Garden area of Harsh Vihar. The construction for another floor was underway in the building, which has just the ground floor.

Officers said that the construction started on Sunday morning, and the first stage of construction was over by 5 pm. As soon as the call came in, five fire tenders were rushed to the spot.

Soon, NDRF personnel were deployed at the site, and rescue operations commenced with the help of locals.
Additional DCP Sandeep Lamba told mediapersons that they suspect some people might be trapped inside, but the number was not confirmed yet.

A team of the Delhi Disaster Management Authority (DDMA) also reached the site and joined the rescue and relief operation, a senior police officer said.

Police personnel and other emergency responders were at the spot, coordinating efforts to assess the extent of the damage and determine whether anyone was trapped beneath the debris. The rescue operations were on till the last reports came in.

The latest incident comes weeks after a pregnant woman and two children were killed and eight people, including a three-year-old, injured, after a four-storey building collapsed in Northeast Delhi’s New Seemapuri on October 7. When Delhi experienced earthquake tremors the same evening, the building had developed cracks, officers had said.
Earlier, on September 6, a five-storey building, which was being used as paying guest accommodation, in Satya Niketan collapsed, killing five people and triggering massive concerns over safety regulations in the Capital.