New Delhi: Backpacks, notebooks and pens lay strewn across the debris of the six-storey building in Satya Niketan, the area home to hundreds of Delhi University (DU) South Campus students. While rescue operations continue at the site of the building collapse, at least eight students were rescued until Friday evening, said the Delhi Fire Service (DFS).
Of the eight rescued, two were declared dead on arrival at the AIIMS Trauma Centre, and a third succumbed to injuries later Sunday evening.
The incident comes months after a building operating as a PG collapsed in south Delhi’s Mehrauli, killing at least six persons and injuring eight others.
Delhi Police, it is learnt, was alerted to the building collapse in Satya Niketan by a PCR call at 1:34 PM Sunday. “Teams of Delhi Police, NDRF, Delhi Fire Service and DDMA, along with fire tenders and CATS ambulances, reached the spot and commenced rescue operations,” said a senior Delhi Police officer aware of the matter.
Local residents told ThePrint that the building, at least five decades-old, housed a PG with a capacity of 75 beds.
“The building had already tilted and despite that construction work was ongoing on the ground floor of the building,” said Abhishekh, a second-year student from DU South Campus who lives in another PG in the area.
The building owner earlier rented out flats to students and only recently handed it over to a PG operator, Abhishekh told ThePrint. “A year back my friend was asked to leave the flat citing that the building would be repaired. Soon after, it was handed over to a private PG operator.”
He also said that the building was turned into a private PG overnight, despite the need for repairs, and rates skyrocketed. “When the ground floor was getting repaired, the building had already tilted, but they did not stop,” he said.
By the time Yash Chaudhary, a local resident of Satya Niketan arrived at the site, the building had already collapsed. “We heard people screaming and crying for help. At that time there were very few police officers so we all began removing the malba (debris), one student was seen stuck with his head resting on a pillow and his ears bleeding,” he said.
Chaudhary and other local residents pulled out several students from under the debris alongside the Delhi Police before teams from DFS and NDRF arrived at the site.
Another local resident said that since it was Sunday several students were in their rooms. “Had it been a weekday these students could have been in their colleges attending classes, but I fear a lot of them were home and are trapped,” she added.
(Edited by Amrtansh Arora)
Also Read: Saket collapse leaves detritus of pain & broken dreams. Couldn’t recognise bodies, say survivors