Debris yet to be cleared; search on for surviours

A senior fire brigade official said the debris clearance operation at the collapsed spot in the East Delhi's Lalita Park is on and it may take some more hours to clear it.The toll in the four-storey building collapse in East Delhi rose to 67 with the death of an injured late last night.

The entire structure came crashing down around 8.15 PM on Monday at Lalita Park in Laxmi Nagar.Over 60 families, mostly labourers from West Bengal, were living in the cramped quarters of the 15-year-old building, where an illegal fifth floor was under construction.
Director of Delhi Fire Services, R C Sharma had yesterday said that rescue operations could wind up only by this morning.

He, however, said that the rescue workers would have to remove every bit of debris and ensure nobody is trapped in the basement.

Debris clearance operations were in full swing with rescue workers from National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), fire department, police, civil defence and locals working together remove tons of concrete from the spot and find trapped people.

A 250-member disaster management team has been deployed to help in rescue effort.
Following the incident the Delhi government has ordered for a magisterial inquiry into the incident.

Delhi government also directed MCD to urgently make a survey of all buildings in Laxmi Nagar area to determine their structural deficiencies, if any.

The survey would be carried out within a radius of 300 metres from Pushta Road where the building collapsed last night.

The foundation of the building is suspected to have weakened following heavy rains during monsoon when Yamuna river had flooded the area. The basement of the building was waterlogged for the last two months, nearby residents said.