4 killed in W. Delhi house collapse
At least four people were killed and several feared trapped when a four-storied building collapsed at Uttam Nagar in west Delhi on Saturday.
The fire department officials confirmed that they dug out six people during the rescue operation and four of them, including a children and two women, were dead. The injured have been admitted to Deen Dayal Upadhyay (DDU) Hospital.
“We received a call about the incident at around 11.30 am and fire tenders were pressed in rescue service. We faced some trouble in rescue operation due to narrow streets. So far, four people were dug out dead and two injured have been admitted to DDU Hospital,” said a fire department official.
Because of the massive debris of the four-storied building, the structures beside it were also affected. Officers brought a JCB digger immediately to clear the debris.
However, the local residents acted swiftly and formed a a human chain and then started clearing the debris in search of the trapped as the JCB machine struggled to enter the narrow streets leading to the building.
An MCD spokesperson said the adjoining building no B-6B, measuring 125 sq yard, was an old structure of a single storey.
“They started digging pits for erecting pillars for fresh construction which may have resulted in the collapse of this building. No construction has been reported in the building collapsed,” he said.
The four deceased were identified as Rooprani, 60, Richa Sharma, 40, Jay Pathak, 24 and Sarita Sharma, 54.
“There was some construction work going beside this building. At around 11.25 am it came falling down all of a sudden. Because of weekend, most of the residents were home so casualties can go up,” said Ram Kishore Upadhyay, an eyewitness and a neighbour of the deceased.
One of the injured was identified as Gagan Sharma, 50. Sources said that Rakesh Sharma is the owner of the collapsed house.
The fire officials said that the building was built in very less space needed for such multi-storied buildings.
“The government is providing certificates to regularise the unauthorised colonies but it forgets that such incidents only take place in unauthorised colonies. Such colonies need a proper drainage system and illegal construction in the buildings should be banned completely to avoid such incidents,” said Veena Pathak, an NGO worker and a resident of the area.
According to the police, the owner of an adjacent plot was illegally constructing a basement, weakening the structure that collapsed, reports IANS.
“The construction caused some cracks to develop in the building where the Sharma family resided and it collapsed. The injured were rushed to Deen Dayal Upadhyay hospital,” a police official said.
“We are sifting through the debris and it is suspected that three to four people are still trapped underneath,” a fire official said.
Meanwhile, the Municipal Corporation of Delhi has ordered a vigilance inquiry into the incident and two engineers were suspended for negligence.
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