New Delhi, Nov. 5 -- Five people are feared to be trapped in the basement of a collapsed building in Delhi's Chawri Bazar area, while four people have been rescued so far, SDM Manoj Kumar said on Thursday, adding that 30 personnel from the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) are engaged in the rescue operation.

Explaining the suspected cause of the collapse, Kumar said that a four-storey structure had been built on a small plot and that the temporary supports may have been removed before the concrete and debris had dried.

"A four-storey structure had been built on a small plot. It appears that the centring (temporary support) was removed while the debris/concrete was still wet, which led ...