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Building collapse kills 66 in India
Source: Agencies |
November 17, 2010, Wednesday
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Print Edition
RESCUERS hammered slabs of concrete and dug with their hands yesterday to pull survivors and bodies from a five-story apartment building that collapsed into a mountain of rubble in a poor New Delhi neighborhood. At least 66 people were killed and another 73 injured.
The 15-year-old building housing hundreds of people? mostly migrant workers and their families? collapsed on Monday evening in New Delhi's congested Lalita Park area, where emergency efforts were hampered because vehicles had difficulty navigating its narrow alleyways.
"The scale of the tragedy is unprecedented," New Delhi's top elected official, Sheila Dikshit, said as she toured the site.
Residents said they heard a rumble like thunder as the building collapsed upon itself. Then they sprinted to the site.
"There was nothing left, only people helping each other. There were so many dead bodies, there was no movement at all," said Dil Nawaz Ahmed, a 25-year-old journalist who lives nearby.
He dug into the piles of concrete, bricks and mortar with other volunteers and managed to help free five injured residents, he said. But he mainly pulled out bodies, which he carried to waiting ambulances.
M.D. Shahanawaz, a 23-year-old student, teared up as his hopes for a friend who lived in the building dwindled. "He's dead," he said. "Everybody is coming out critical or dead."
The cause of the collapse was not immediately clear. One official said the building may have been weakened by water damage following monsoon rains. Residents said the landlord was illegally constructing an additional floor on the building.
Officials ordered the evacuation of at least one other nearby building that they feared could collapse too, Dikshit said. It also had a flooded basement.
Police said they had filed charges against Amrit Singh, the owner of the building, and a search was on to locate him. Residents said he fled the area right after the building collapsed.
By yesterday evening, as rescue workers continued to tear through the pile of broken bricks, twisted iron rods and concrete slabs, hope for finding more survivors was fading.
The 15-year-old building housing hundreds of people? mostly migrant workers and their families? collapsed on Monday evening in New Delhi's congested Lalita Park area, where emergency efforts were hampered because vehicles had difficulty navigating its narrow alleyways.
"The scale of the tragedy is unprecedented," New Delhi's top elected official, Sheila Dikshit, said as she toured the site.
Residents said they heard a rumble like thunder as the building collapsed upon itself. Then they sprinted to the site.
"There was nothing left, only people helping each other. There were so many dead bodies, there was no movement at all," said Dil Nawaz Ahmed, a 25-year-old journalist who lives nearby.
He dug into the piles of concrete, bricks and mortar with other volunteers and managed to help free five injured residents, he said. But he mainly pulled out bodies, which he carried to waiting ambulances.
M.D. Shahanawaz, a 23-year-old student, teared up as his hopes for a friend who lived in the building dwindled. "He's dead," he said. "Everybody is coming out critical or dead."
The cause of the collapse was not immediately clear. One official said the building may have been weakened by water damage following monsoon rains. Residents said the landlord was illegally constructing an additional floor on the building.
Officials ordered the evacuation of at least one other nearby building that they feared could collapse too, Dikshit said. It also had a flooded basement.
Police said they had filed charges against Amrit Singh, the owner of the building, and a search was on to locate him. Residents said he fled the area right after the building collapsed.
By yesterday evening, as rescue workers continued to tear through the pile of broken bricks, twisted iron rods and concrete slabs, hope for finding more survivors was fading.
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