Delhi under-construction basement collapse: Bodies of 3 labourers recovered after 28-hour operation

Delhi news: Bodies of three labourers were recovered on Saturday from an under -construction basement in Vasant Vihar in south west Delhi, after a 28-hour operation by the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and other agencies.

The labourers had got trapped in the under- construction basement after a wall had collapsed due to heavy rains on Friday.

NDRF deputy commander Ajit Kumar said: “We have received information from police at 9 AM by 10 am our team reached here started rescue. The operation continued for almost 23 hours and the first body was recovered at 5 pm, the second at 7:15 pm and the third right now at 9:15 am. And now we are doing a confirmatory search.”

The clogged water was cleared out and the bodies were taken out at around 10.45am, Delhi Fire Services director Atul Garg said, adding: “The bodies were moved to Safdarjung Hospital for postmortem.”

The victims were identified as Santosh Yadav, 19, his namesake Santosh Yadav, 20, and Daya Ram, 45 - all residents of Bihar.

The basement, which was dug up for nearly 20 feet, was covered with at least 10-feet of water, slush, debris of temporary structures and a couple of trees.

“The rescuers were facing difficulties in clearing the debris due to the presence of iron rods and other construction materials in the under-construction basement. At least two pumps were being used to drain the water. However, the pumps were not functioning to their best capacity as the mud slush blocked the machines,” deputy commissioner of police (southwest) Rohit Meena had said on Friday.

Teams of NDRF, Delhi Disaster Management Authority (DDMA)and civic agencies also carried out search opeation to ensure there were no more people trapped under the rubble, said officials.

Cranes were used to clear the debris and water was pumped out of the foundation pit to recover the bodies.

With this, the death toll due to rain-related incidents in the national capital has risen to eight.

The monsoon lashed Delhi with its highest rainfall in a single day of June in 88 years.