NEW DELHI: Three labourers' bodies were recovered from under the rubble of a collapsed wall at a construction site in Vasant Vihar, New Delhi, amid heavy rain on Saturday.
The wall fell into a pit where the labourers were working, necessitating a 23-hour rescue operation by the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), along with other agencies.
The incident was reported to the police around 9 AM, and the NDRF team arrived on the scene by 10 AM. Deputy Commander of NDRF, Ajit Kumar, stated, "We have received information from police at 9 AM by 10 AM our team reached here and started rescue. The operation continued for almost 23 hours and the first body was recovered at 5 PM, the second at 7:15 PM and the third right now at 9:15 AM. And now we are doing a confirmatory search."
Heavy rainfall on Friday morning exacerbated the situation, leading to the collapse and causing two trees to fall into the basement pit where temporary huts for labourers were located. Rescue teams from the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), Delhi Disaster Management Authority (DDMA) and various civic agencies conducted a thorough search to ensure no additional people were trapped under the debris.
The retrieved bodies were transported to Safdarjung Hospital. The incident added to the chaos caused by heavy rainfall in New Delhi, which resulted in waterlogging across various parts of the city, disrupting traffic and daily life for residents and commuters.
In a related incident, the canopy of Terminal 1 of Indira Gandhi International Airport in Delhi also collapsed on Friday, causing one fatality and injuring eight others. Delhi International Airport Limited (DIAL) responded by forming a technical committee to investigate the cause of this mishap.
In a statement released on Friday, DIAL mentioned that the technical committee would provide its report as soon as possible.