Toll update

This report follows our earlier story on the collapse, in which six deaths were confirmed and the building owner and three contractors were arrested. Read the earlier report

The death toll in the collapse of a three-storey under-construction building in Delhi's Chawri Bazar has climbed to seven after rescuers recovered one more body from the debris, officials said on Sunday, November 8.

Source: IANS via The Freedom Press

The latest victim was identified as Luchhuman Mukhiya, 66, a resident of Jakauli village in Bihar's Darbhanga district. His mortal remains have been shifted to LNJP Hospital for further proceedings, officials said.

Six bodies had earlier been recovered during the rescue operation. Five of those victims — Sanjeet Kumar, Pankaj Sharma, Shantu, Dinesh Sah and Kishori Sah — were from Bihar, most of them from Khagaria district, with Kishori Sah a resident of Saharsa. Another victim, Vipin Ram, lived in Delhi's Fazilpur area.

The building, in Gali Sitara near Chawri Bazar Metro Station, collapsed on Thursday, November 5. Officials said information about the collapse was received at 9:50 a.m., after which a large rescue operation was launched involving Delhi Police, the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), Delhi Fire Services and the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD). Two bodies were recovered on Thursday, and one injured person was rescued and sent to hospital.

Police said the construction work under way in the building was illegal and the building was unsafe. The MCD has suspended its Junior Engineer and Assistant Engineer responsible for the area.

Building owner Saimullah alias Ayub, a resident of Delhi, has been arrested. Three contractors — Siraj, Tajuddin and Furkan, all residents of the national capital — were arrested after being apprehended from Sirohi village in Faridabad. An FIR dated November 5 has been registered against all four at Hauz Qazi police station under Sections 105, 290, 125(a) and 3(5) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS). The arrests are investigative steps and do not by themselves establish guilt.

Chief Minister Rekha Gupta has said every possible effort will be made to reach anyone still trapped under the debris, that an investigation is under way, and that strict action will be taken against those found responsible.