Four killed in Delhi building collapse

December 3rd, 2011 - 11:52 pm ICT by IANS  

New Delhi, Dec 3 (IANS) Four people, including three women, were killed when a four-storeyed building collapsed Saturday afternoon in west Delhi, a fire brigade official said. Some others were feared trapped under the debris. A probe was ordered and two civic engineers were suspended for negligence.

Rooprani Sharma, 60, her daughter-in-law Richa, 40, and her two-year-old grandson Jai and building owner Savita Sharma, 54, died in the incident. Rooprani Sharma’s son Gagan suffered serious injuries.

Rooprani’s family lived on the ground floor of the building while Savita, who belonged to another family, lived on one of the other three floors.

According to police, the owner of an adjacent plot, which already had a storey and half built on it, was illegally trying to construct a basement, weakening the structure that collapsed.

“The construction caused some cracks to develop in the building where the Sharma family resided and it collapsed. The injured were rushed to Deen Dayal Upadhyay hospital,” a police official said.

“We are sifting through the debris and it is suspected that three to four people are still trapped underneath,” a fire department official said.

The Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) ordered a vigilance inquiry into the incident and two engineers were suspended for negligence.

An MCD spokesperson said that next to the building that collapsed there was a 125 square yards plot on which an old structure of about one and half storey was existing.

“The owner of this 125 square yards plot started digging pits for erecting pillars for fresh construction which may have resulted in the collapse of the adjacent building. No construction has been reported in the building that collapsed,” he said.

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