New Delhi, Sep 6 (PTI) Blood streaked across a student’s dust-covered face as he lay trapped in a suffocating pocket beneath slabs of concrete – the rubble of a building collapse in south Delhi’s Satya Niketan.
The around 50-year-old five-storey building housing a boys’ hostel in a congested bylane near Delhi University’s South Campus collapsed on Sunday afternoon, leaving three students dead, five critical and many more trapped.
The crash turned the narrow student neighbourhood into a frantic scene of rescuers, anxious friends and residents desperately searching for those buried underneath.
A video circulating among students offered a chilling glimpse into the moments after the collapse.
Recorded from beneath the rubble, it showed a student amid broken concrete, his face and clothes covered in cement and dust, with blood flowing from the side of his forehead as the camera moved through the cramped space around him.
The video was reportedly shared in an Atma Ram Sanatan Dharm (ARSD) College student group.
One of the trapped students, Aditya, a first-year BCom student from Bihar studying at ARSD College, recorded the video, Vansh, another student from the college, told PTI.
Two people were believed to have been trapped in the section captured in the video, the students said.
A local said screams of “save me, save me” and other cries were heard right after the collapse.
BJP MLA Anil Sharma, who was at the spot, said, “We are even getting calls from those who are trapped inside.” For friends waiting outside, the rescue operation has become a race against time.
Sunny Dheda said his friend Shantanu, an evening student at Motilal Nehru College, was sleeping in the PG when the building collapsed. He was critically injured and admitted to the trauma centre.
“I got a call from my friend about half an hour ago and rushed here immediately,” Dheda said.
Shantanu is from Churu in Rajasthan, he said, adding that his family members were there.
Dheda said Shantanu had completed his graduation from Dayal Singh College, where he was president in 2022, and was currently pursuing an MA in Buddhist studies.
An eyewitness said the tragedy could have been much worse had it occurred on a working day, as many students had returned home for the weekend. “Very few were here,” he said.
Locals claimed that water accumulating in the basement over the past few days of rain had weakened the building’s foundation, leading to its eventual collapse. Delhi has seen spells of heavy rain since Friday.
The collapse also raised concerns among residents over the condition and maintenance of buildings in the locality, where several houses have been converted into PG accommodations.
Priyanka, who has lived in the area for over two decades, said, “I have not seen any maintenance work ever being carried out.” Eight people have been pulled out of the debris so far, of whom two were brought dead to the hospital, while a third died during treatment. Five are critical, the police said.
Repair work was underway in the basement of the five-floor structure, which was being used as a paying guest accommodation, when it collapsed at around 1.30 pm, a senior officer said.
An officer said the building was known as ‘Hostel Daze’ and its owner is based in Gurugram.
The process to register an FIR is underway, and seven to eight teams are searching for the building’s owner.
“The exact number of persons trapped/injured is still not known at present,” Delhi Police said in a statement. PTI MSJ SGV VN VN
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