First responders saw white smoke, though it was earthquake

New Delhi: Vijay Singh, a driver by profession, had gone to a nearby eatery to have snacks when he saw a tree fall down. Singh came out of the shop, only to see the four-storey building tilt and turn to rubble on the road in seconds.

The road on north west Delhi's Sawan Park was now filled with white smoke and the smell of LPG gas.

"Like every day, I went to the shop to have snacks. But as soon as I found that the tree collapsed, I ran to save myself. Then, I saw the horrific scene of the building collapse. I only heard residents crying for help," said Vijay.

Residents of the area said that when the incident occured, the houses shook violently and they thought it was an earthquake. Sawan Park, where the building collapsed, has a sizeable population. At the time of the collapse, most shops were closed and there were hardly any people sitting near the building; otherwise, the number of casualties would have been much higher.

People living near the building told Millennium Post that a tree, adjacent to the building, had been somehow holding it. But the rain which fell a few days ago had weakened its roots.

"I have been living here since 2000. We saw construction on the fourth floor of the house around three-four years ago," said Pushpa, a resident.

Other residents claimed they were the first who rescued the victims after the collapsed.

"I saw the hand of a man who was waving for help. All of us went there and started the rescue," said Pawan, who lives on the ground floor of a building located 100 m away from the spot.

Jeetu, his brother, said he thought it was an earthquake and he ran out of to see the debris. "Many of the residents living in the nearby building were trapped in their houses, as part of the debris fell on their building we went there to rescue them," said Jeetu.

Some claimed that two floors had no tenants, but the other two had more than 20 persons living there.

One of the residents, Suraj Singh, claimed that he saw a woman fall down directly on the road after the incident.

Eyewitnesses claimed that some gas cylinders also started leaking, but they were taken out at right time.