Death toll rises to 6 in New Delhi building collapse

The death toll from the collapse of a 50-year-old building in New Delhi's Satya Niketan area has risen to six, with six others seriously injured. The incident occurred on Sunday when a pillar lost balance during repair work in the basement, causing the entire structure to cave in.

Authorities suspect that accumulated water and unauthorised renovation work weakened the basement pillar, leading to the disaster. Locals claimed that rainwater had been pooling in the basement for days, further compromising the building's foundation.

Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta said on Monday that the combined pressure of waterlogging and renovation work on the ageing structure caused the collapse. Twelve people were rescued from the site, of whom six died and the remaining six are undergoing treatment.

The National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) is conducting rescue operations. Delhi Minister Manjinder Singh Sirsa said residents of an adjacent 50-year-old dilapidated building had also been evacuated, and that structure will be demolished once the debris from the collapsed building is cleared.

A senior Municipal Corporation of Delhi official said the five-storey building housed a boys' hostel and was a ground-plus-four structure built on a 55-square-yard plot in a rehabilitation colony, where only a ground-plus-one unit was originally permitted.