Summary:
New Delhi, Sep 13 (PTI) A four-storey building in north Delhi"s congested Sabzi Mandi area collapsed on Monday, killing two brothers who were passing by with their mother and were trapped under the debris, officials said.Thirteen members of the Aneja family, who occupied three out of the four floors, narrowly escaped the mishap as all except one member were outside the house when the building collapsed.The two children who died in the incident were aged seven and 12, the police said, adding that a case has been registered against a man named Mohak Arora who had undertaken the renovation work on the ground floor of the building.The police said 72-year-old Ramji Das, who was also trapped under the debris and suffered a head injury, was rescued and rushed to a nearby hospital for treatment.He is stated to be out of danger, they said, adding that the rescue operation lasted over nine hours.The North Delhi Municipal Corporation has ordered an inquiry into the incident and directed the building department to submit its report within seven days.However, officials said the building had not been identified as dangerous by the civic body.The NDMC said the building is about 50-60 years old.
The ground floor was being used for commercial purpose while the rest was residential.N S Bundela, Joint Commissioner of Police (Central), said the two children, both brothers, were rescued and taken to a hospital where they were declared brought dead."They were passing by with their mother when the building collapsed and the two bothers got trapped under the debris," he said.The two children -- Somya (12) and Prashant Gupta (7), were residents of Roshnara Road in old Delhi.Their father Nitin Gupta (38) works at a shop in north Delhi"s Sadar Bazar while their mother is a housewife, according to the police.A senior police officer said, "A case has been registered under section 304 (Punishment for culpable homicide not amounting to murder), 288 (Negligent conduct with respect to pulling down or repairing buildings) and 34 (Acts done by several persons in furtherance of common intention) of the Indian Penal Code." The police said the milk shop that was on the ground floor was recently sold to Mohak Arora who was getting the place renovated to start his own venture related to electrical appliances.The incident comes days after record heavy rains pounded Delhi, throwing life out gear.
An old building in Delhi"s Narela area, which was declared a dangerous structure by civic authorities, had collapsed recently.
However, no one was injured in that incident.Das, a resident of Malka Ganj here had a "paan" shop near the building.
He was at his shop when the structure collapsed, police said.Assistant Commandant, NDRF, Shri Niwas said, "Two teams of the NDRF were at the spot conducting rescue operation.
We used cameras to see whether people were trapped under the debris or not.