NEW DELHI: The death toll in the collapse of a three-storey commercial building near Saket Metro station in south Delhi has risen to four, while several others were rescued and taken to hospital, an official said on Sunday.
The building on Western Marg in the Saidulajab area collapsed on Saturday evening.
The structure housed a coaching institute, cafés and offices, and construction work was reportedly under way on the upper floor at the time of the incident.
“Total four people have died in the incident. Rescue operation is underway,” Deputy Commissioner of Police (South) Anant Mittal told PTI.
Police said the building was reduced to rubble, with debris falling onto an adjoining tin-shed canteen frequented by students preparing for medical entrance examinations.
All the injured were taken to the AIIMS Trauma Centre for treatment.
The injured were identified as Tarun Kumar (26) of Gurugram, Saika Khan (27) from Bihar’s Motihari, Neelam Yadav (25) of Saidulajab, Aditya Sharma (24) of Saket, Kshitij Pratap (25) of Noida, Anuj Dikshi (25) of Saket, Aastha (25) of Saidulajab, and Vishal (24) of Saket.
According to the DFS update on Sunday morning, seven people were rescued by personnel of the Delhi Fire Services (DFS) with assistance from the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), the Delhi Disaster Management Authority (DDMA) and other agencies, while two were pulled out by local residents.
All eight injured persons were admitted to the AIIMS Trauma Centre.
A multi-agency rescue operation involving the NDRF, DFS, DDMA, Delhi Police and local volunteers continued through the night.
Rescue teams used heavy machinery, hydraulic cutters, victim-location cameras and sniffer dogs to search for those still feared trapped under the debris.
The exact cause of the collapse has yet to be ascertained.Authorities have launched an inquiry into the incident.
(With inputs from PTI)