Seven injured as portion of banquet hall collapses

New Delhi: More than seven persons were injured after rear portion of a building fell in North West Delhi's Old GT Karnal Road. The fire department claimed that the building which was suspected to be a banquet hall was being reconstructed when it fell down. Deputy Commissioner of Police (North-West) Aslam Khan stated that the incident came to light at 5:23 pm when the rear portion of a building (Pritam Banquet) situated at B-54, Industrial Area, Old GT Karnal Road, Delhi collapsed.

"It was found that some repair or construction work was going on in the building. Total seven persons (out of 12 present there) got injured. There is no casualty though," said the DCP.

The senior police officer further added that five persons are undergoing treatment at Sundar Lal Jain Hospital and two at Deep Chand Bandhu Hospital. In this incident, four private vehicles also got damaged. "Rescue work is on with the help of staff from local police, Fire Services and Disaster Management Cell," said the DCP.

The injured were identified as Surender (40), Bablu (36) Chander Bhan (40), Jai Kumar (40), Yogesh (40), Parmatma (42) and Parmod (24). An eyewitness Ramu who works as a security guard in the area claimed that he was sitting 30 meters away from the building when the incident took place.

"I heard a huge noise and the portion of the building fell on the electric wire, so short circuit was also reported. When we rushed to spot, we took out around five persons from the debris and PCR call was made," said Ramu.

He further added that the construction work was going on for past few months. "In few minutes, the whole incident took place," said the eyewitness.

Chief Fire Officer of Delhi Fire Services (DFS) Atul Garg stated that the building was a banquet which was being redesigned when it fell down. "It was a four-storey under construction sbuilding and when it fell down it was suspected that 12 labourers were trapped," said Atul Garg adding that the rescue work is still on. The firefighters also helped the injured and took them out from debris. Around seven fire tenders were rushed to the spot and the rescue work is going on. Police are investigating the case from all angles.

According to North Delhi Municipal Corporation, the building reportedly was around 45-year-old, and the banquet was running in this building for last 28 years.

"Manjeet Singh, the owner of the building, was carrying out some repair/alteration work unauthorised inside the old building. No new construction was going on at the site. The rear wall and a portion of the roof collapsed during repair," an official from North MCD said.