4-storey Bhajanpura building in N-E Delhi caves in, 10 injured 

A four-storey building housing a coaching centre collapsed in Northeast Delhi’s Bhajanpura on Saturday evening, killing five people, including four students, and injuring 10 others. Around 30 minor students were attending classes on the first two floors of the coaching institute, when the roofs of the upper two floors caved in, trapping the students under debris, officials said.

The deceased have been identified as Kirti (10), Deeshu (14), Krishna Bharti (9), Farhan (6), all students, and Umesh (30). They were declared brought dead at the Guru Teg Bahadur (GTB) Hospital. Deceased Umesh was the younger brother of Shankar, who owns the building and runs the coaching centre.

“The fourth floor of the building was under construction when suddenly the upper two floors of the building collapsed. Some of the students were rescued by locals, while 13 others were rescued by the fire department and police,” a senior DFS official said, adding a call regarding the tragedy was received at 4.30pm.

Laxmi, the mother of deceased Krishna and injured Nitin, said, “My children were studying there for the past six months. They should not have moved them to the third floor as we heard from locals that the construction material was stored there. I lost my son Krishna and Nitin is injured. He is admitted to the GTB hospital.”

Arif Sultan, father of deceased Farhan, said, “My daughter who is in Class VIII called me to inform about the incident. I rushed to the spot. I climb up the stair and I myself took out my child from the debris after around one and a half hours. He was not breathing. We took him to hospital where he was declared brought dead.”

Taking note of the incident, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal tweeted: “Receiving bad news from Bhajanpura. Praying to God for everyone’s safety. I will reach the spot soon.”