Delhi building collapse: 2 students dead, 5 critical as rescue operation continues in Satya Niketan

Two students were killed and five others critically injured after an around 50-year-old, five-storey building housing a boys' hostel collapsed in a congested lane in south Delhi's Satya Niketan near Delhi University's South Campus on Sunday, September 6, officials said.

Eight people have so far been pulled out of the debris. One was brought dead to hospital, while another succumbed to injuries during treatment, police said.

Five others are in critical condition, while an injured rescuer has been discharged from hospital.

Local residents claimed that 40 to 50 people could still be trapped under the rubble of the building, which comprised a basement and five upper floors.

The structure, used as a paying guest (PG) accommodation, collapsed at around 1.30 pm when repair work was underway in the basement, a senior police officer said.

Residents alleged that water had accumulated in the basement following several days of rain and may have weakened the building's foundation, leading to the collapse. Police said the structure was nearly 50 years old.

Teams of the Delhi Police, National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), Delhi Fire Service and Delhi Disaster Management Authority (DDMA), along with fire tenders and CATS ambulances, rushed to the spot and launched rescue operations.

The locality has narrow and congested lanes lined with eateries and PG accommodations, making it difficult for emergency vehicles to reach the site quickly.

Locals said most of the students living in the area were from Kerala, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh and studied at colleges located nearby.

As rescue teams searched through the debris, local residents also joined the operation, using their bare hands and available tools to look for those trapped underneath.

Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta, Lieutenant Governor Taranjeet Singh Sandhu, Police Commissioner Anurag Kumar and BJP MP Bansuri Swaraj visited the site after the incident.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah expressed grief over the deaths and said he had spoken to the chief minister, police commissioner and National Disaster Management Authority director general to assess the situation.

“The injured are being with all necessary medical assistance. Praying for the speedy recovery of all those injured,” Shah said in a post on X.

The Joint Commissioner of Police, New Delhi Range, along with the DCP Southwest and Additional DCP, is supervising the rescue operation.

The building was known as 'Hostel Daze' and its owner is based in Gurugram, police said.

Police said the process of registering an FIR was underway and seven to eight teams had been formed to trace the building's owner.

“The exact number of persons trapped/injured is still not known at present. Further details will be shared as and when confirmed,” Delhi Police said in a statement.

Rajen Chhetri, a local who works with the Delhi Police, said the building had around 15 rooms, with two to three students sharing each room.

He said most residents studied at Motilal Nehru College, Atma Ram Sanatan Dharm College and Sri Venkateswara College and paid around Rs 12,000 per bed.

Chhetri said construction work was being carried out in the basement and water had started accumulating there.

An eyewitness said the incident could have resulted in a higher casualty count had it occurred on a working day, as several students had returned home for the weekend.

Residents also raised concerns about the condition and maintenance of other buildings in the densely populated locality, where several houses have been converted into PG accommodations.

Priyanka, a resident who has lived in the area for over two decades, alleged that several buildings had been constructed up to five or six floors and converted into boys' PGs, with owners living elsewhere.

She said she had not seen maintenance work being carried out at the collapsed building.

Delhi has been witnessing incessant rainfall since Friday.

BJP MLA Anil Sharma, who was present at the site, said rescue teams were still receiving calls from people trapped inside.

Police have appealed to residents and onlookers to stay away from the site, while paramilitary personnel have been deployed to ensure the unobstructed movement of ambulances and emergency vehicles.

Rescue operations are continuing.