Seven people were killed when a multi-storeyed residential building in a densely populated slum cluster in west Delhi collapsed during rains on Sunday.
NEW DELHI: Seven people, including a four-year-old boy, were killed when a multi-storeyed residential building in a densely populated slum cluster in west Delhi collapsed during rains on Sunday.
The four-storeyed structure in Madipur area of Punjabi Bagh caved in at around 4.30 pm trapping several people under the rubble leading to a major search and rescue operation by fire force and police personnel.
Fire fighters pulled out seven dead bodies, including that of a child and the owner of the building, and rescued six injured people who were admitted to Sanjay Gandhi Hospital and Balaji Health Care Institute, a senior Delhi police official said.
Earlier, the same official had put the toll at eight.
The condition of three of the injured was stated to be critical.
Fire brigade and police personnel scoured through the rubble for nearly six hours before calling off the operation during which they faced difficulties due to poor light, intermittent rains and hostile crowd which resented the late arrival of ambulances.
Police suspect that the structure was weak because of the use of low-quality construction material. The MCD had earlier last year issued a notice to the owner of the building for removing certain portions constructed illegally.
The building is owned by one Pratap Singh, who was also killed in the tragedy, police said.
Six families, including that of the owner, were living in the building.
The deceased have been identified as Neha (15), Sunil (10), Surinder (42), Mahender (23), Tulsi (65) and Pratap Singh (62). The identity of the four-year-old boy had not been established yet.
The Delhi Government has announced a compensation of Rs one lakh each to the next of kin of those killed and Rs 50,000 to the minor victims. A sum of Rs 20,000 each would be given to those injured.
The government has also ordered a probe into the incident, official sources said.
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