New Delhi, Oct. 26 -- A 60-year-old man and his 33-year-old son were killed after an old building, which reportedly housed a godown, collapsed in northeast Delhi's Harsh Vihar area, with their bodies recovered from the debris during an overnight rescue operation, police said on Monday.
The tragedy has left the family devastated, with the two men being the sole breadwinners, a family member said.
Anita, a relative of the deceased, said she rushed to the spot immediately after receiving a call about the collapse on Sunday evening and waited anxiously through the night for news about her family members.
"The moment I got the call, I came here. Many people were trying to clear the debris, but the work was very slow. I kept sitting there, just waiting to know about my family members. This morning, the police told us that both had died," she said. "They were the only breadwinners of the family. We were hoping that they would be rescued alive, but we lost both of them," Anita added.
The deceased have been identified as Chanderpal (60) and his son Vijay Kumar (33), both residents of Harsh Vihar, police said.
Information about the building collapse was received at Harsh Vihar police station at 6.46 pm on Sunday, following which a police team rushed to the spot. The two men were pulled out from beneath the debris during the overnight rescue operation and taken to GTB Hospital, where doctors declared them brought dead. A preliminary inspection revealed that the ground-floor structure of an old building, which reportedly housed a godown, had collapsed along with the first-floor structure built above it. The property is reportedly owned by Manoj Kumar, police said.
Two fire brigade vehicles, two ambulances and a crane were deployed at the spot. Civil Defence volunteers and teams of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and Delhi Disaster Management Authority (DDMA) also joined the rescue operation.
Police said an investigation was underway to ascertain the circumstances leading to the collapse. Police are also in the process of registering an FIR.
AAP hits out at govt
Aam Aadmi Party on Monday hit out at the Delhi government over another building collapse in northeast Delhi's Milan Garden area, alleging that departments are extracting bribes "in the name of inspections". AAP Delhi unit President Saurabh Bharadwaj also claimed that the trader community is watching the "moral degradation" of the BJP government. "Every month there is a tragedy in Delhi, every month (the) chief minister orders a new audit of all buildings of Delhi, then every month huge bribes are extracted in the name of audits and inspections," Bharadwaj said in a post on X.
Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.