Delhi building collapse: 20 still buried under debris

NEW DELHI - Rescue operations continued Wednesday at the site of the collapsed five-storey building in east Delhi to search for the 20 people still feared buried under the debris, officials said.

Officials said no more bodies have been recovered since Tuesday night and the toll still stands at 66. However, the number of injured has increased from 74 to 82 and more people were trapped in the rubble of the building that collapsed Monday night.

“Eighty-two people are injured. Rescue operations are going on in the area,” Joint Commissioner of Police (New Delhi) Dharmender Kumar told IANS.

The owner of the unauthorised building, Amrit Singh, who had been absconding since the tragedy and was arrested Tueday night, will be produced in court Wednesday.

Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police (east) I.B. Rani said: “We are questioning him and trying to find out various aspects. We are thinking of asking for a day’s remand.”

Said to be involved in criminal cases earlier, a case of culpable homicide not amounting to murder under Indian Penal Code section 304 has been registered against Amrit Singh, a police official said.

The building, inhabited by poor migrant families from Bihar and West Bengal and located in congested Lalita Park locality near the Yamuna river in east Delhi, collapsed around 8.15 p.m. Monday.

Three nearby buildings have been evacuated, with the residents staying in makeshift camps on the roadside.

A blame game has begun between the Delhi government and the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) for the tragedy, described as “unprecedented” by Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit.