Family members of those dead in Delhi building collapse say shocked, stunned

The families of those who died in an under-construction building collapse in northeast Delhi's Bhajanpura on Saturday said they were stunned into silence when they heard the news of the accident.

Five people, including four students, were killed in the collapse of the building, which housed a coaching centre. Around 30 students were attending classes when the upper two floors of the four-storey building collapsed. Some of them were injured.

Arif Sultan, father of the deceased Farhan Sultan (6), said his daughter called and informed him about the incident. "I was in office when my daughter, who studies in Class VIII, called me and told me about the collapse. My son was studying on the second floor along with 10 to 15 other students. I rushed to the spot.

"I, along with other local people, climbed up the stairs and reached the area where the students were trapped. I took out my child by myself after around one and a half hour. He was not breathing. We took him to the hospital where he was declared brought dead, " Sultan said.

According to fire department, they received a call around 4.30 pm, following which seven fire tenders were rushed to the spot.

Laxmi, the mother of deceased Krishna and injured Nitin, said the students shouldn't have moved to the third floor.

"My children were studying there for the past six months. The owner of the building should not have moved the students on the third floor as we heard from the other locals that they placed construction material on the floor which made it more heavier. I lost my son Krishna and Nitin is injured. He is admitted at GTB hospital. I had three children - Nitin, Krishna and Uma," she said.

A family said they had been lucky that their kids escaped the tragedy.

Sushil Sharma said his nieces were studying in the institute, but were not present inside the building when the incident happened.

"My nieces Palak and Payal (twins) used to study in the coaching institute. They both are students of Class X. Today, they were not in the institute, but studying at the residence of the institute owner. The moment I got to know about the accident, I came here to see them.

"They were fine. We started the rescue operation before the police and fire officials. We entered the building via the roof of the next building and took the students out of the debris. There were 20 to 25 students inside the institute when the incident happened," Sharma said.