New Delhi, May 31 (PTI) One moment, students were eating dinner, revising notes and discussing upcoming exams; the next, they were running for their lives as a deafening roar tore through the evening and a thick cloud of dust engulfed the area.
For the students and office-workers who survived the collapse of a five-storey commercial building near Saket Metro station on Saturday around 7:44 pm, memories remain etched in their minds: Confusion, panic and desperate attempts to escape as the structure crashed down.
Officials said six people died in the incident and several others were rescued and admitted to the hospital. Rescue operations continued through Sunday.
“It felt like the entire area suddenly disappeared,” said Ronit, a medical aspirant who was near the canteen adjoining the building.
“I saw a portion of the building falling and realised that the structure was about to collapse. There was a loud sound, and within seconds everything turned dusty. We could not see who was standing where. People were screaming and running in all directions,” he said.
Ronit started calling his friends to leave the library, which is in the building adjacent to the one that collapsed, because he feared the library might also be affected.
The building on Western Marg in the Saidulajab area housed coaching institutes, cafes, offices and a co-working space. Next to the collapsed building stood a small canteen frequented by students preparing for competitive examinations such as Foreign Medical Graduate, NEET and GATE.
Many of these students live in nearby paying guest accommodations and spend long hours studying in libraries and coaching centres before gathering at the canteen for meals and tea breaks.
When the building collapsed, its debris crashed directly onto the tin-shed canteen, trapping several people underneath. Rishab, a regular visitor to the canteen, said there was little warning before disaster struck. “We heard a strange noise, and then suddenly there was chaos. Some people fell while trying to escape, while others were shouting for their friends. My eyes were burning, and people were trying to find a safe place to stand,” he said.
The scenes that followed were equally harrowing.
Students who had escaped returned to the rubble searching for classmates, co-workers and the canteen owner, Parvati Ojha, who later died in the collapse after reportedly going back to warn students.
“People were calling names and checking phones to see who was safe,” Rishab said.
Among the survivors was Ashutosh.
He initially thought the vibrations were routine. “There is a Metro station nearby, and we often feel slight tremors in the area,” he said. “So when the canteen building started shaking, many of us didn’t think much of it. But within moments it became stronger and then everything collapsed,” he said.
Ashutosh suffered injuries to his leg and shoulder after being struck by falling debris.
“I tried to move away, but some concrete parts fell and hit me, and then I fell and, crawling out, I managed to come out,” he recalled.
Other students helped him get to the ambulance, he said.
Roma, who worked at a co-working space inside the building, had left to get fresh air outside just five minutes before the building collapsed. “I went out to get fresh air and coffee, and was near the metro. While walking back, I heard a blast-like noise and rushed to see the building collapsed,” she said.
Roma said she was lucky to have gone out, but her laptop, bag, and some important documents are still in the debris.
Throughout the night, survivors remained near the site. As excavators cleared debris and emergency teams searched for survivors, groups of students stood silently outside the wreckage, replaying the previous evening’s events. PTI SHB ASD ASD
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