New Delhi: The death toll in the three-storey building collapse in Old Delhi's Hauz Qazi area rose to four on Saturday (November 7) after rescuers recovered two more bodies from the debris, officials said.
One of the deceased was identified as Pankaj Sharma (40), a resident of Hanuman Nagar village in Bihar's Khagaria district, while the identity of the second victim was yet to be confirmed, was shifted to Dr Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital. Whereas the remaining were taken to the Lok Nayak Jai Prakash (LNJP) Hospital for further proceedings.
The rescue search continued for the second consecutive day to retrieve the one's who might have stilled be trapped underneath.
On the first day of the operation, two people were declared dead Kishori (40) and Sanjeet (45) and two others Sahdev Chaudhary (25) and Firoz (37) were rescued with injuries. Both injured persons were reported to be stable.
The three-storey structure collapsed around 9.45 am on Thursday in Sattara Gali, near Ajmeri Gate and Chawri Bazar Metro station. According to police, around 10 to 15 labourers were present at the construction site when the building came crashing down.
Through the initial findings it was reported that the building was allegedly being constructed without the requisite approval on a 50-square-metre plot. A Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) official had said no building plan was sanctioned for the structure.
The civic body further stated that the construction had reached the third floor and the building collapsed while the roof slab was being laid. The material used were non-engineered and had not set properly, the official said.
The incident has also brought the issue of unauthorised construction under scrutiny. In June, Delhi Police had flagged the construction at the property. In a communication dated June 15, the Station House Officer (SHO) of Hauz Qazi police station had alerted the MCD's City Sadar Paharganj Zone about the work and identified the landowner and contractor as Furqan.
Police have registered an FIR under Section 105 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) for culpable homicide not amounting to murder against the building owners and contractors.
Police are now trying to trace the builders as the investigation continues.
(With the inputs from PTI)