3 killed, 4 injured in building collapse in Northwest Delhi's Jahangirpuri

Three people were killed and four injured after a portion of a two-storey building collapsed in northwest Delhi's Jahangirpuri area on Friday, 2 August officials said.

Police said the front portion of the building -- housing three separate factories in its basement and on the ground and first floors -- collapsed in the afternoon.

The building was located at Jahangirpuri's D Block.

A police officer said the building was old and dilapidated. Its terrace was weakened due to seepage and a few labourers were working to fix the problem when it collapsed.

Delhi Fire Services officials said they received an emergency call at 12:51 pm, following which five fire tenders were rushed to the spot. The rescue operation was conducted by the National Disaster Response Force, fire department and local police and continued till evening.

Initially one person identified as Mukesh Kumar (45) was taken out from the rubble and rushed to a hospital, where he succumbed, the police officer said.

Phoolwati (50) and Vinod (43) were brought out later and taken to a hospital where they were declared brought dead.

All three worked in factories functioning from the building.

The building housed a gas-stove manufacturing unit in the basement, a cardboard-making operation on the ground floor and a garment production factory on the first floor.

The injured have been identified as Thakur Das, Nirmala, Hari Shankar and Jason. They are undergoing treatment at Babu Jagjivan Ram Memorial Hospital, the police said.

The injured were working on the terrace to fix the seepage issue, they said.

Witnesses said the building collapsed like a pack of cards into a cloud of dust. Locals immediately informed the police and rushed to the spot and tried to remove the debris.

Phoolwati's two sons also reached the spot to search for their mother with the rescue team. They told the police that it was her first day of work, a witness said.

She lived with her sons in Rohini Sector 5.

Mukesh Kumar and Vinod's families have been informed. The bodies have been kept in the mortuary for a post-mortem on Saturday, the police said.

A case has been registered and a probe is underway, they added.