NEW DELHI: An old building that was being demolished to construct a new one in its place collapsed in Chittaranjan Park on Saturday afternoon. A few labourers, who were digging the basement of an adjacent building, got trapped under the debris. While firemen and police managed to rescue two of the trapped labourers, a third was extracted from under the debris after almost five hours and could not be saved.
An initial probe suggested that the debris from the demolition of the second and third floors had piled up on the first floor. This led to the collapse. The labourers alleged that despite informing the contractor and the builder about the possibility of an accident, no steps were taken to remove the debris.
An FIR of causing death due to negligence has been registered and the contractor, Nidhish Gupta, was taken into custody by police.
The fire department said they received a call at 2.13pm about the house collapse in E-Block of CR Park. “Five fire tenders and 35 firemen, along with civil defence personnel, carried out the rescue operation,” said Atul Garg, director, Delhi Fire Service (DFS).
The injured labourers have been identified as Sudama (21), Sanjay (30) and Tappan Mandal (25), while the deceased is Toormal Mandal (32). Jiten Mandal, another labourer, had a miraculous escape after a stone hit his helmet cracking it into pieces, but his head got saved.
A senior South Delhi Municipal Corporation official said that the incident involved two houses. “Construction was going on in one of the houses and the owner had all documentation. Their neighbour was demolishing the old structure during which the wall fell on the labourers. Police will take further action,” he added.
An initial probe suggested that the debris from the demolition of the second and third floors had piled up on the first floor. This led to the collapse. The labourers alleged that despite informing the contractor and the builder about the possibility of an accident, no steps were taken to remove the debris.
An FIR of causing death due to negligence has been registered and the contractor, Nidhish Gupta, was taken into custody by police.
The fire department said they received a call at 2.13pm about the house collapse in E-Block of CR Park. “Five fire tenders and 35 firemen, along with civil defence personnel, carried out the rescue operation,” said Atul Garg, director, Delhi Fire Service (DFS).
The injured labourers have been identified as Sudama (21), Sanjay (30) and Tappan Mandal (25), while the deceased is Toormal Mandal (32). Jiten Mandal, another labourer, had a miraculous escape after a stone hit his helmet cracking it into pieces, but his head got saved.
A senior South Delhi Municipal Corporation official said that the incident involved two houses. “Construction was going on in one of the houses and the owner had all documentation. Their neighbour was demolishing the old structure during which the wall fell on the labourers. Police will take further action,” he added.
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