Six dead and more feared trapped in collapsed building in Delhi

BBC:

At least six people are now confirmed dead in a residential building collapse in the Indian capital, Delhi, with more students still feared trapped inside.

Eyewitnesses told local media that two-to-four dozen people were inside the five-storey building in the Satya Niketan neighbourhood of south-west Delhi when it came down around 13:30 local time (08:00 GMT) on Sunday.

Aiims hospital confirmed the deaths in a statement on Monday. Six others, who were rescued and brought to the hospital, are receiving treatment.

Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta said “accumulation of water, combined with ongoing repair work in the basement” of the building, Hostel Daze, caused it to collapse.

Officials haven’t confirmed how many people are still believed to be under the rubble.

On Monday morning, Gupta said “approximately 80% of the debris had been cleared” from the building, which sits a short distance from a Delhi University college and “only the rubble from the basement remains”.

“So far, 12 people have been recovered; six have died, while the other six are in stable condition. We are in touch with all their parents and are making every effort to ensure they face no difficulties. The children are receiving proper medical treatment,” she added.

Many of the students staying in the building were thought to be in their rooms at the time of the collapse as there were no lessons on Sunday.

A local legislative assembly member said at the scene that some of the trapped students had been making calls from under the rubble.

An eyewitness who was at his shop nearby when the tragedy struck told news agency ANI that the building collapse sounded “like the rumble of an earthquake”.

“We rushed out immediately; there was a lot of smoke and dust here. The entire building had collapsed. Some bodies were recovered, and they also rescued four students who were still breathing.”

He said he could hear students crying out from under the rubble saying “save us, save us!”

Gupta said an adjacent building had been evacuated “as a precautionary measure” -and local media reports say it would be demolished on Monday.

“Every possible effort is being made to safely rescue those trapped,” she added.

Delhi Police said the building had only been 40 or 50 years old.