NEW DELHI: A four-storey building collapsed in the Seelampur area of northeast Delhi on Saturday morning, trapping multiple people under the debris. Emergency teams were quickly dispatched to the scene after the Delhi Fire Department received an alert at 7:05 am.
The building, a ground-plus-three-floor structure, saw the immediate mobilization of seven fire tenders and around 42 firefighters. “Three to four people have been taken to the hospital, but more individuals are feared to be trapped,” said a fire official. Rescue operations are ongoing.
Rescue Operations in Full Swing
Sandeep Lamba, Additional DCP of the North-East District, provided an update to ANI, confirming that the first call about the incident came at 7:30 am. “We received reports of a building collapse in Gali No. 5, Welcome area. Seven family members who lived in the building have been rescued. Efforts to free the remaining trapped individuals are ongoing. Police, NDRF, civil defense, and locals are actively working on the spot,” Lamba said. “Around three to four people are feared trapped, and the local community has been instrumental in the rescue operations.”
A local resident, Anees Ahmad Ansari, described the terrifying moment: “We were all asleep when, around 7 am, the building next to mine collapsed on one side, and debris fell into my home. Everything went dark in an instant. Four to five people are still trapped under the rubble, and we are all helping with the rescue efforts.”
Earlier Incident Claims One Life
This building collapse comes less than 24 hours after another deadly incident in central Delhi. A 46-year-old man, identified as Manoj Sharma, was killed when a three-storey commercial building in the Bara Hindu Rao area collapsed early Friday morning. Sharma, an employee at one of the shops inside the building, was pulled from the wreckage and rushed to Hindu Rao Hospital, where he was declared dead.
The Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC), whose tunnelling work for the Janakpuri West–RK Ashram Marg corridor is being carried out nearby, announced an ex-gratia of Rs 5 lakh for Sharma’s family. DMRC clarified that the buildings in the area had already been flagged as unsafe before tunnelling began and had been evacuated in advance.
