Woman, son killed as building wall collapses due to rain in Delhi's Civil Lines

New Delhi: Two members of a family were killed and two injured after the wall of an under-construction building near the lieutenant governor's house in the Civil Lines area here collapsed due to rain on Tuesday morning, officials said.

All four of them were working as labourers at the construction site in Sehgal Colony, they said.

According to the officials, the deceased were identified as Meera (40) and her son Ganpath (17) and the injured as her elder son Dashrath (19) and brother-in-law Nanhe (35). All of them had come to Delhi from Dharmapura in Madhya Pradesh four days ago. Meera's husband stayed back home.

Meera and Ganpath were inside a makeshift hut at the construction site and Nanhe and Dashrath were sitting nearby when the nearly 15-ft wall of the under-construction residential building fell on them, the officials said.

"Around 9:40 am, a PCR call was received regarding the wall collapse in Sehgal Colony. Police reached the location and found that four labourers working at plot no. 1 were buried under the debris," a senior police officer said.

All four people were immediately rescued and shifted to Aruna Asaf Ali Hospital, he said.

"Initial inquiry at the scene revealed that the eastern wall of plot no. 7, Court Road, collapsed as no safety measures, including reinforcement of wall, were taken. This resulted in the collapse and the debris... caused injuries and fatalities at plot no. 1, Sehgal Colony, where construction activity was underway," he added.

The officer said that construction at plot no. 1 in Sehgal Colony is being carried out by Atul Goel and that at plot no. 7, Court Road, is being undertaken by M/s Pari Estates Pvt. Ltd.

A case has been registered in connection with the incident under sections 290 (negligent conduct related to building work, specifically concerning the pulling down, repairing, or construction of buildings), 125(A) (act endangering life or public safety of others) and 106(1) (causing death by negligence) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita at Civil Lines police station, police said.

The bodies have been sent for post-mortem, they said.

Nanhe said the family came to Delhi in the hope of building a better life and were earning Rs 500 a day.

"We came just four days ago to earn. Now we will return with two bodies," Nanhe said from the hospital bed.

He said his brother in the village is still unaware of the deaths of his wife and son.

Nanhe said the family had pitched their tent a couple of feet away from the boundary wall.

"It collapsed suddenly. I was outside with Dashrath, but Meera and Ganpath were inside and could not escape. I was in shock... I remember people pulling us out and screaming," he recalled.

A Delhi Fire Services (DFS) official said nearby properties were damaged due to the wall collapse.