Wall collapse in GK-2 kills one, injures five
NEWDELHI: A 42-year-old labourer was killed and five other severely injured when a 12-foot-high brick wall erected at the basement of an under-construction building in south Delhi’s Greater Kailash-2 collapsed on Saturday afternoon, police said.
According to police, the incident took place at Greater Kailash-2 E-block between 11.45 pm and noon when construction of a multi-storey residential building was going on.
DCP (south) Romil Baaniya said the five injured labourers are undergoing treatment at AIIMS trauma centre.
Stating that they are yet to record the statements of the survivors, Baaniya said the builder and the contractor have been booked on charges of causing death due to negligence and negligent conduct with respect to machinery. He said the building was being constructed by a builder named Nitin Verma, who had hired a contractor for the job. “We have called them for questioning to ascertain if they had the necessary permissions and if they adhered to the safety arrangements,” he said.
Mohammad Ilyas and Urmila Singh, the two who were among the first rescuers, said they did not remember seeing any safety equipment. Ilyas, a driver, said, “The sudden loud crash drew my attention. I peeped in to find the labourers crying out for help.”
Singh, a cook working in a neighbouring building, said, “After I told the bystanders off for not rushing in to help, they began rescuing them,” she said.
The worst affected was Satish, who hails from Jharkhand. “He was buried under the rubble. It took us 15 minutes to pull him out,” said Ilyas.
By the time the police and fire department arrived, the victims had been rushed to the AIIMS trauma centre, where doctors declared Satish dead on arrival.
An SDMC official said they had sanctioned the construction plan but it was not under the civic agency’s purview to check the quality of materials being used. “Only after completion of construction does our staff visit the site and issue the ‘completion certificate’ if all the safety norms are met,” said the official.