Delhi Building Collapse: 12 Rescued, Seven Dead

Rescuers recovered 12 people from the debris of a collapsed building in Delhi’s Satya Niketan area, while seven people died, Delhi Police said on Monday.

National Disaster Response Force and Fire Service teams were still working at the site to retrieve one more person believed to be unconscious. NDRF Inspector General Narendra Singh Bundela said six of the rescued people had subsequently been declared dead and five had been admitted to hospitals. One body remained to be brought out.

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A total of 12 people have been retrieved; six were subsequently declared dead, and five were admitted to hospitals. One body is yet to be extricated; the NDRF and fire service teams are attempting to bring him out, he is likely unconscious.

Bundela said two NDRF tactical teams were operating at the site after state authorities activated the emergency response. He said the state government was taking the incident seriously and that the chief minister had visited the site the previous day and issued instructions.

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It is difficult to say how much time it will take, as debris is still there. We anticipate that today’s whole day will take. Right now we are using canines.

The rescue operation was expected to continue throughout the day because debris remained at the site. Teams were using sniffer dogs, but officials did not have a confirmed figure for how many people might still be trapped. “It is difficult to say how much time it will take, as debris is still there,” Bundela said.

He said NDRF teams follow a protocol requiring deployment from their bases within 20 minutes of receiving a call. Teams remain on standby around India on a rotating, round-the-clock basis, he said.

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For the NDRF, the protocol requires us to deploy from our base within 20 minutes of receiving a call.