‘Cries of trapped heard till late’
It was a scene of total chaos all around soon after the building collapse at Lalita Park in Lakshmi Nagar area in east Delhi on Monday evening. Ramesh Tyagi, whose house was adjacent to the ill-fated building, said: “Initially, I heard a sound very similar to a bomb explosion. Before I could realise what had happened, I heard people shouting that the building had collapsed.”
While the narrow approach roads worsened the situation, the rescue authorities also seemed to have woken up to the enormity of the incident very late. Only one JCB was working to clear the debris for nearly two-and-a-half hour after the incident and two JCBs were added to the rescue effort only around 11 pm. The electricity arrangements at the site often gave way and the gas cutters stopped working. However, diesel generators were being brought in to ensure that the rescue operations continue. In fact, so bad was the condition that Delhi finance minister A.K. Walia was stopped by the rescue authorities from inspection for the second time. Ranjeet Sharma, a resident of the nearby Garhwali Colony, rushed at least four injured persons to the ambulances.
Manju Sharma, a resident, who returned from the Lal Bahadur Shastri Hospital after learning about the death of a near one, said: “Mujhe kuchh nahi maloom kya hua. Maine apna sab kuchh kho diya (I don’t know what happened. I have lost everything.)
Another local resident Ram Jiwan said that he found limbs of people from the debris.
East Delhi MP Sandeep Dikshit told this newspaper: “This is a huge tragedy. The entire area is in the danger zone and we will have to see how to deal with it.”
Preliminary investigation revealed that the building belonged to one Amrik Singh and mostly labourers used to live in the building. Late in the night, nearly 100 personnel of the National Disaster Relief Force arrived at the spot with sniffer dogs to look for any survivors. Officials said that cries of people trapped could be heard three hours after the incident. The rescue was likely to continue through the night.
Post new comment