Express Illustration.
NEW DELHI: Two people died and seven sustained injuries after a house collapsed in the Johripur extension of North East Delhi, said police on Friday. The dead bodies of two people were recovered from the site in the evening. The deceased have been identified as Harshit, 17 and Mukesh, 21 – who are residents of Loni in Ghaziabad. Both worked as labourers in the house.
“Today at about 11:50 am, a PCR call was received that a building had collapsed at Gali No. 12 Johripur Extension, Delhi in the area of Gokulpuri police station,” said Deputy Commissioner of Police (North East) Sanjay Sen.
He further said the house that collapsed was under renovation and today while labourers were working, the roof of the first floor collapsed suddenly. At the accident spot, teams from the Delhi Disaster Management Authority (DDMA), National Disaster Relief Force, Delhi Fire Service, and Delhi Police had arrived to expedite rescue operations. According to a DDMA official, the overload on the building caused it to collapse because the roof was made of concrete slabs, which made it more vulnerable.
“This was a small factory to create the calendars, maps, and other educational wall posters,” stated Urmila, a resident who bore witness to the incident. She said, “Around eleven in the morning, I was passing from the lane when I heard a thud sound of collapse.”
A person climbed out of the rubble, he was seriously hurt when he emerged from the debris, she said.
The injured persons were identified as Suraj, Anand, Manoj Sharma, Sanjay Sharma, Chandra Pal,Varsha and Seema. They are admitted to the GTB hospital.
Thirty-five-year-old Seema Devi, who was also injured in the accident, suffered a brain injury. “Like any other typical day, I was occupied with my work when suddenly the ceiling fell and after that I lost consciousness, and then I regained consciousness at the hospital,” she said.
While engaged in hospital formalities, Her husband Ram Hirdaya stated, “I got a call from the factory workers that my wife was trapped under the home, so I raced to the place in her search. She was finally pulled from under the wreckage in an unconscious state after two hours of rescue efforts.”
