All illegal structures above 4 floors to be ‘immediately sealed’ in Delhi, guilty officials to be dismissed: MCD

NEW DELHI, September 7 — A building collapse in the Indian capital killed at least three people and left others feared trapped, local media reports said. The structure, primarily housing students, crumbled midday in the southwestern Satya Niketan area of the city. Police and disaster response teams cautiously lifted the debris using heavy machinery.

According to unnamed fire services officials, three individuals perished in the accident. Nine people were rescued from under the rubble, five of them in critical condition, while the exact number of those still trapped remained unknown. An adjacent building has been evacuated due to concerns of a potential collapse as well. Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed distress over the incident, offering condolences to those who lost loved ones.

Images from television cameras showed rescuers pulling a young man from the rubble and another trapped under a block of fallen concrete, his face partially visible. Delhi's Chief Minister Rekha Gupta voiced deep concern over the incident, stating that every possible effort was being made to safely rescue those trapped and provide immediate assistance to the affected families.

Building collapses are commonplace in India, particularly in big cities where illegal structures housing migrant workers and students are often found. Last year, at least 11 people were killed when a residential building collapsed in the northeastern district of the capital.