Delhi Building Collapse: Death Toll Rises to Six in Chawri Bazar Area

The death toll from a building collapse in Delhi's Chawri Bazar has reached six. Three contractors have been arrested for unauthorized construction practices, while rescue operations navigated significant challenges in the narrow, congested area.

Delhi Building Collapse Claims Six Lives

The death toll in the building collapse incident in Delhi's Chawri Bazar area has risen to six, with all the deceased identified, officials said on Saturday. The six deceased have been identified as Sanjeet Kumar, Kishori Sah, Pankaj Sharma, Vipin Ram, Shantu and Dinesh Sah, according to the latest update issued during the ongoing rescue operations at the collapse site, according to the police. Five of the deceased hailed from Bihar, while Vipin Ram was a resident of Saket Block in Mandawali, Fazilpur, Delhi.

On Thursday, the three-storey under-construction building collapsed at Gali Sheesh Mahal, Gali Shehatara, near Ajmeri Gate, in Old Delhi's Chawri Bazar area at around 10:30 am.

Contractors Arrested and Cause of Incident

Three contractors have been arrested in connection with the collapse of an under-construction building in Delhi's Chawri Bazar area, which claimed two lives, as rescue operations continued on Friday to locate people feared trapped beneath the debris, Delhi Police said. The arrested contractors have been identified as Siraj, Tajuddin and Furkan, all residents of Village Sirohi, Tehsil Dauj, in Haryana's Faridabad district. They have been arrested in connection with a case registered under Section 105 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) in relation to the incident, police said.

Earlier on Thursday, Sub-Divisional Magistrate (SDM) Manoj Kumar said that five people were suspected to be trapped in the basement of the collapsed building, while four people had been rescued. He said that around 30 personnel from the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) were engaged in the rescue operation.

Suspected Structural Failure

Explaining the suspected cause of the collapse, Kumar said that a four-storey structure had been built on a small plot and that the temporary supports may have been removed before the concrete and debris had dried. "A four-storey structure had been built on a small plot. It appears that the centring (temporary support) was removed while the debris/concrete was still wet, which led to the collapse. The wet debris has now set and is trapped in the basement...It is suspected that 5 people are trapped. Currently, 30 personnel from the NDRF and MCD are engaged in the operation. Four people have been rescued," he said.

According to the details of the incident, unauthorised construction on the second and third floors is suspected to have given way, bringing down the entire structure. The narrow and densely populated locality has posed significant challenges for rescue teams. The building is situated at the end of a dead-end lane barely three feet wide, making it inaccessible to motorised vehicles, rescue trucks and heavy earthmoving machinery. (ANI)

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