A pregnant woman trapped under the rubble, a mother feared buried beneath the debris and families frantically searching for their loved ones — residents of Delhi’s New Seemapuri recounted moments of terror after a residential building collapsed on Wednesday afternoon.
Delhi Fire Services (DFS), the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), police and civic officials launched a rescue operation at the site. The five-storey residential building in E-Block, New Seemapuri, in Shahdara district, collapsed around 3:30 pm, partially damaging two adjoining buildings and leaving several people trapped under the debris.
“The whole family lives here across four floors. The building collapsed in front of me”. “They were using a machine to demolish. This impacted our house” she claimed.
A relative of the building owner, who identified himself as Mohammed Akbar, 33, said the property belonged to his father-in-law, Mohammed Anwar.
Akbar said three family members, including his sister-in-law, were trapped following the collapse. The owner’s daughter, the building adjoining their house had been undergoing demolition for the past five to six days, according to Ameena. Ameena said the family had moved into the building around four months ago after constructing it.
They had previously lived in another building owned by them in the neighbourhood.
Eight injured taken to GTB Hospital
The building, bearing number E-401, was constructed on a plot of approximately 25 square yards. DFS received information about the collapse at around 3:30 pm and rushed four fire tenders to the spot. Eight injured people, including a three-year-old child, were rescued from the affected area and taken to the GTB Hospital emergency department, which is currently operating from the Rajiv Gandhi Hospital campus. Gulfisha, a resident of D-Block, had gone to meet her mother when the building collapsed. The rescue operation was being carried out from the Eidgah premises as the lanes on the other side of the collapsed building are severely cramped. NDRF was called in immediately to assist with the rescue operation.
