Four children among seven killed in building collapse in Sawan Park

New Delhi: A pall of gloom descended upon Sawan Park in north west Delhi Ashok Vihar, where seven persons – four children, a man and two women – died after a dilapidated four-storey building collapsed. Police said they have booked three persons, including the owner of the house.

Police said that on August 16, a complaint had been lodged about the building being dangerous by Sanjeev Gupta, after which a team from North Delhi Municipal Corporation (North MCD) had visited and inspected the building around 20 days ago.

Meanwhile, North MCD said that the building had not been declared dangerous nor was any application received for this by its building department.

Cops also said a case under sections 304 (punishment for culpable homicide not amounting to murder) and 34 (acts done by several persons in furtherance of common intention) of the IPC was registered against Dharmendra, the owner of the building, his partner Sachin and his father Roshan Lal.

Deputy Commissioner of Police (North West) Aslam Khan said a total of 25 people lived at the house number A-43 in Sawan Park's Harijan Basti. "At the time of incident, 12 were inside the building and 13 were outside," she said, adding that the deceased were identified as Ashi (3), Saurya (2), Rajnesh (4) Sumnesh (12), Lakshman (25), Munni Devi (43) and Seema (35), a mother of two.

Atul Garg, Chief Fire Officer, Delhi Fire Services (DFS), said they received the building collapse call around 9.25 am, after which four fire tenders and disaster teams rushed to the spot. Eyewitnesses residing in adjacent houses told Millennium Post that the whole building turned into debris with five to seven seconds.

"My car was damaged, but a rickshaw puller was lucky as he crossed the building hardly twenty seconds before it fell on the road," said Hussain, a resident in the area.

Amandeep Kaur, who lives in a nearby building, said that she was trapped in her house due to the debris of the collapsed building. "I had gone to take a towel when suddenly parts of building fell on my house. It was nearby residents who helped me get out," said the 54-year-old.

According to North MCD, a report was received by its control room that the four-storeyed building, an unauthorized regularized colony measuring around 25 sq yards, had collapsed. "Men and machinery were immediately dispatched to the site for rescue operation and removal of debris. The Deputy Commissioner of Keshavpuram zone himself reached the site," said a North MCD press statement. It added that the building was reportedly more than 20 years old and its structure was weak and in a deteriorated condition.

No signs of construction activity or building material were found at the site. "The building was not declared dangerous by North MCD, nor did it receive any application for this purpose in building department," said the statement.