At least six people were killed and nine others injured after a five-storey commercial building collapsed in Delhi's Mehrauli area on Saturday evening, triggering a major rescue operation and administrative action against civic officials.
The incident occurred in the Saidulajab locality, where the structure came crashing down within seconds, reducing the entire building to rubble. A video of the collapse, which has gone viral on social media, shows the massive structure crumbling like a pack of cards and raising a huge cloud of dust as panicked bystanders rushed to safety.
According to officials, the Delhi Fire Service received information about the collapse at around 7:44 pm. Since the building housed several offices, people were present inside at the time of the accident. However, authorities said the casualty count could have been much higher as many offices had already closed early due to the weekend.
Teams from the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), the fire department and Delhi Police were deployed to the site and launched an extensive rescue operation. Search efforts continued through the night to locate anyone trapped beneath the debris.
Meanwhile, the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) suspended the area's Assistant Engineer and Junior Engineer with immediate effect amid allegations of negligence. Officials said the action was taken over alleged failure to monitor illegal construction activities or identify structural weaknesses in the building.
Police said the building owner is absconding and efforts are underway to trace him. Authorities have launched a detailed investigation into the cause of the collapse.
