2 killed as Ghazipur landfill collapses

NEW DELHI: A giant pile of garbage caved in at a massive dumping site in Delhi on Friday afternoon, which pushed a few cars, an autorickshaw and a scooter into a canal. Two people are dead and a few others are said to be trapped after an 80-foot heap crashed onto the road with such ferocity that cars were flung off the road.

A rescue operation has been on for nearly three hours at the site in Ghazipur, which is on the outskirts of the capital. A team of the National Disaster Response Force or NDRF has arrived to help in the rescue and large cranes are clearing the road of trash. A crowd gathered to watch the rescue attempts.

"We received a call regarding a car falling into the canal due to sliding of a garbage dump in Gazipur. It was later reported that the garbage dump fell on one taxi car, two bikes and one scooter in the canal. Soon rescue teams reached the spot and carried on the operation." said Ravinder Yadav, Joint CP eastern range.

The two deceased have been identified as Rajkumari (30) and Abhishek (27). Both deceased were residents of Delhi. The injured have been identified as Karan, Pankaj of Khoda colony, Amit, Deepak and Ayub Ansari of Rajvir colony in Gazipur.