Mother, 3-yr-old son die in roof collapse incident in Old Delhi

New Delhi: A 30-year-old woman and her three-year-old son died, while another seven-day-old son was critically injured when the roof of an old building in the walled city here collapsed on them on Tuesday, police said.

The deceased have been identified as Ruksara and her son Alia, they added. The Chandni Mahal police station received a call regarding the incident of roof collapse in a building at Pahari Rajan, Chitli Qabar. Deputy Commissioner of Police (Central) Shweta Chauhan said Ruksara was staying at her father's house with her five children.

"Ruksara and her son Alia were brought dead to a hospital, while her son Junaid is in a critical condition. The other children are fine," the officer said.

Police said the incident occurred in the morning hours when the occupants of the house were asleep.

Ruksana had recently given birth to twin babies —Junaid and Judera, a girl. The two other children are named Abdul Rehman (5) and Subhan (1), police said.

A police team rushed to the spot and evacuated the residents of the building as well as those living in the adjacent buildings.

The MCD said the residential building consisted of a ground floor, a first floor and a partly-constructed second floor. It was constructed "nearly 100 years ago".

"From a local inquiry, it has been observed that the inside portions of the 'parchhatti' was in a dilapidated condition and repair was to be carried out at the level of the owner or the occupier. The MCD has no role to play in the matter," the civic body said in a statement.

After the incident was reported, a junior engineer, along with subordinate staff, went to the site and found that the "red stone 'parchhatti' at the ground-floor level of the property, supported on wooden planks, was badly damaged by termite and fell down on persons sleeping inside the building," the MCD said.

"Immediately, staff were deployed to remove the debris and carry out rescue work at the site. Later on, they were joined by teams from police and various other agencies, such as the NDRF and Civil Defence, for taking effective rescue measures.

"It is pertinent to mention here that there was no collapse of property or building but the incident occurred due to falling of badly damaged 'parchhatti' inside the room at the ground floor having an area of approximately 8x8 sq. ft," the civic body said. Besides, no complaint in connection with the "dilapidated condition of the property" was received from anyone, it added.

"No construction activity was going on in the building as well as in the adjoining building," the MCD said.