Delhi building collapse: A 20-year-old man died while six members of his family were rescued as a three-storey building collapsed in northeast Delhi's Mustafabad area on Sunday, police said. The incident was reported at around 5 am and three fire tenders were rushed to the spot, said Atul Garg, Director, Delhi Fire Service.
The officer said since the lane was narrow and congested, the firemen were finding it difficult to reach the spot but once, they did, they started engaging in rescue operations. Police pulled out Suleman (45), his wife Shabnam (40), daughters Shabnur (22) and Labiya (20) and his sons Sufhiyan (20), Faizan (17) and Arshiyal (15) from the debris.
Sufhiyan was pulled out with great difficulty and rushed to a hospital where he was declared brought dead, a senior police officer said. "The family was living in the now-collapsed portion of the building as tenants for the last four years," he said. The building was constructed about 17-18 years back and is owned by one Shamim Ahmad, police said.
A senior police officer said an FIR has been registered against the owner of the building under section 337 (causing hurt by an act which endangers human life, etc.) and 304A (causing death by negligence) of the Indian Penal Code and further investigation is underway. While the family member of Faizan is under treatment at a hospital, he said the condition of the house was not good and their family had complained about it to the owner multiple times but he did not pay any heed.
They accused the owner of not taking any preventive measures to repair the house despite several complaints made to him in the past. Faizan recalled that his parents were sleeping on the first floor while his siblings were on the second floor of the building at the time of the collapse.
"I woke up to an unusually disturbing noise and do not remember much. When I realised that our house was collapsing, all of us started screaming for help and after a while, I lost consciousness. When I gained my senses, I found my mother. A team of police and firemen was there. They were busy removing debris and helping in rescue operations. Everything happened so quickly that I am still in shock," said Faizan.
The family hails from Uttar Pradesh and Suleman's son Sufiyan helped him in his scrap dealing work. They had taken the entire building for rent and had been living there as tenants for the past four years. On the ground floor, Suleman had kept some of his work-related items. Other floors had one room each. "We would feel the building shaking at times. It was scary but we did not know it would collapse one day. We have no home now. We have lost everything, including my brother," Faizan said.
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