Three labourers died on Wednesday after a portion of a three-storey building adjacent to Sadbhavna Park in central Delhi’s Daryaganj collapsed, police said.
According to police officers present at the site, the deceased are Mohammed Jubbair Alam, 24; Gulsagar, 30; and Mohammed Tofiq, 32 — all from Bihar. They were working at the site when a portion of the structure caved in, and they got trapped under the debris. When the injured were taken to Lok Nayak Jai Prakash Narayan Hospital (LNJP), they were declared dead, officers said.
Police and other workers at the site said no other workers were injured in the incident.
Nidhin Valsan, deputy commissioner of police (DCP), central, said the building is privately owned. “The reconstruction was being done by a contractor. We are registering an FIR. No arrests have been made yet,” he said.
“We are registering an FIR based on allegations of negligence involved in repairing buildings and negligence leading to death. The contractor has been identified and will be held,” another officer said.
The exact cause of the fall is also not known as yet, police said.
Officials said the three labourers were working on the second floor of the building. “They were breaking down a wall on the second floor when a ledge collapsed, resulting in three workers falling down and getting trapped in the debris,” an officer said.
According to relatives of the deceased, the migrant workers had started working on the site less than two weeks ago.
Mohammed Atabul, Alam’s father-in-law said he was a BA graduate and was pursuing B.Ed. He had recently come to Delhi to work at the construction site. “Tofir and Alam were relatives. Alam was married to my daughter and she is seven months pregnant. They were married for two years. Our relatives are in touch with the police officials and we will come to Delhi to collect the deceased’s body,” he said, while on a call with HT. Atabul also said that the family is planning to file a case against the contractor.
Mehroon Khatun, Tofir’s relative, said he was from Madhepura in Bihar and is survived by four children and his wife. “He was earning ₹700 per day. He was the sole earning member of his family. We got a call at around 12.30pm that Tofir is being taken to the hospital,” she said while waiting outside the hospital.
Mohammed Zabbar, a labourer who was present at the site when the incident occurred, said he was staying inside the building and there were at least 12 workers when the portion collapsed. “We were lucky that our part of the wall did not fall down. All the workers were busy tearing the walls when a portion of the building fell down and then the boundary beneath the building also collapsed,” he said.
When HT visited the site, teams from the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) were seen working alongside Delhi Police, fire brigade personnel and the Delhi Disaster Management Authority (DDMA), in the rescue operation. Excavators were mobilised to clear the rubble.
According to Delhi Fire Services (DFS) officials, a call was received at 12.14pm and two fire tenders were sent to the spot. “The rescue operation concluded at around 6pm with three people confirmed dead,” a DFS official said.
“The injured were moved to LNJP Hospital. Civic authorities, including the Civil Defence Services and DDMA were informed. Legal action will be taken after verification of facts,” a police officer said.