New Delhi: Five people were killed and nine injured after the wall of an under-construction godown collapsed in outer Delhi's Alipur area, police said on Friday.
They said the injured are undergoing treatment at a hospital.
Police said a case has been registered and two people have been arrested.
The area of the godown is about 5,000 square yards and four fire tenders were rushed to the spot, Delhi Fire Service director Atul Garg said.
He said preliminary enquiry suggested the construction was unauthorised.
Police said a PCR call was received at Alipur police station at 12:40 pm about the wall collapse.
"On reaching the spot, it was found that approximately 100-foot long and 15-foot high wall of the under-construction warehouse has collapsed. Around 20 labourers who were digging a foundation adjacent to the wall got buried under the debris," a senior police officer said.
"With collective efforts, 13 labourers were shifted to Satyawadi Raja Harish Chandra Hospital in Narela. Of them, nine have been injured, while five others have been declared dead," he added.
The land owner has been identified as Shakti Singh, (40), a resident of Bakoli in the Alipur area and the contractor is Sikandar, police said, adding legal action will be initiated in the matter.
The deceased have been identified as Pramod (45), a resident of Hardoi district in Uttar Pradesh; Govind Prasad alias Bablu (30), a resident of Sitapur in UP; Pramod Kumar (35), a resident of Palamau district in Jharkhand, Rishipal (40) and Pramod (35).
The injured have been identified as Kishan Kumar (30), Ram Kishore (47), Puran (28), Sanjay (32), Rambir (24), Mahavir Das (25), Guddu (23), Nim Chand (40) and Vinod, they said.
"A case has been registered under sections 288 (negligent conduct with respect to pulling down or repairing buildings), 304 (punishment for culpable homicide not amounting to murder), 337 (causing hurt by act endangering life or personal safety of others) and 34 (acts done by several persons in furtherance of common intention) of the Indian Penal Code. We have arrested two people, Sikander, the contractor, and Satish, the site supervisor," the officer said.
The Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD), in a statement, said the wall was being constructed on private land in Bakoli village. The sub-divisional magistrate had issued a restraint order on the construction.
"MCD had carried out demolition action on April 22 and wrote to the police station concerned to not allow construction activities there. On July 13, a junior engineer on a field visit noticed construction activities at the spot following which a notice was issued to the property owner," it added. Gurjeet Singh, who works as a guard in a godown in front of the site where the wall collapsed, said, I was inside the godown when I heard a loud noise. When I came outside, I saw people gathered at the spot and later got to know that the wall has collapsed and people were trapped under it. Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed anguish over the incident and said his thoughts are with those who lost their loved ones.
"Anguished by the mishap in Alipur, Delhi. My thoughts are with those who have lost their loved ones. I pray that those who are injured recover at the earliest," he was quoted as saying in a tweet by the Prime Minister's Office (PMO).
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said he was monitoring the relief work.
"A very tragic incident happened in Alipur. The district administration is involved in relief and rescue work. I am monitoring the relief work. I pray for the souls of the deceased," Kejriwal tweeted in Hindi.
Mukim (21), a truck driver, said he, along with others, helped pulling people out of the debris.
I came here from Bawana to fix my truck. I was near the spot when the incident happened. We all rushed to the spot, removed the bricks and pulled out some people who were bleeding," he said.