Delhi Building Collapse Near Saket Metro Kills 4 as Rescue Teams Search for Survivors After 16 Hours
Four people are dead and at least 10 others injured after a five-storey building collapsed near the Saket Metro station in South Delhi on Saturday evening, triggering a massive rescue operation that has now stretched beyond 16 hours. Fire services, NDRF teams, and police are still combing through tonnes of debris searching for survivors believed to be trapped under the rubble.
The building, located in the Mehrauli police station area, housed a coaching institute on the ground and first floors, two cafés on the second floor, and private offices on the upper levels. Authorities say that construction work was reportedly underway on the uppermost floor at the time of the collapse, which occurred at approximately 5:30 PM IST on Saturday.
What Happened — Timeline of the Collapse and Rescue
According to Delhi Fire Services chief Atul Garg, the first distress call came at 5:37 PM, and four fire tenders were dispatched immediately. By 5:50 PM, the scale of the disaster became apparent, and additional units including two NDRF teams, heavy earth-moving equipment, and sniffer dogs were rushed to the site.
By late Saturday evening, rescuers had pulled 12 people alive from the debris, four of whom were declared dead at nearby Safdarjung Hospital. The deceased have been identified as two students from the coaching institute aged 19 and 21, a 35-year-old café worker, and a 42-year-old office employee. Among the survivors, three women sustained serious fractures and are being treated in the trauma ward.
As of Sunday morning, rescue teams have extracted 14 people in total. Officials believe between two and four more individuals may still be trapped, based on witness accounts and the building’s estimated occupancy at the time of collapse. Thermal imaging cameras and acoustic sensors are being deployed to locate survivors beneath the concrete slabs.
Why Did the Building Collapse — Illegal Construction Suspected
Preliminary investigation points to illegal construction on the top floor as the probable trigger. South Delhi Municipal Corporation records show that the building was originally approved as a three-storey residential structure in 2008. Two additional floors were added without municipal sanction, and the ongoing construction work on what appeared to be a sixth-floor addition likely overwhelmed the building’s structural capacity.
A senior MCD official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that a notice had been issued to the building owner in November 2025 for unauthorised construction, but no demolition or stop-work action was taken. “The file was pending with the enforcement wing. This is a systemic failure — we issue notices, but follow-up enforcement is chronically understaffed,” the official admitted.
This pattern of regulatory failure is disturbingly common in Delhi. A bridge collapse in Hamirpur that killed six workers earlier this month was also attributed to poor construction oversight, raising urgent questions about structural safety protocols across the National Capital Region.
Police Register Culpable Homicide Case — Owner on the Run
Delhi Police have registered an FIR under Section 105 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (culpable homicide not amounting to murder) against the building owner, identified as Rajesh Aggarwal. Additional charges under sections relating to endangering public safety and causing death by negligence have been added. Raids are underway at multiple locations to apprehend Aggarwal, who is reported to have fled his residence hours before the collapse.
Deputy Commissioner of Police (South) Ankit Chauhan confirmed that the investigation is also examining whether the coaching institute operating from the building had valid fire safety clearances. “Our initial findings suggest neither the coaching centre nor the cafés had obtained fire NOCs. We are also looking at the structural engineer who may have certified the additional floors,” he told reporters at the site.
Building Safety in Delhi — A Systemic Crisis
Delhi’s building collapse problem is not new, but it is getting worse. According to the Delhi Disaster Management Authority, the city recorded 47 building collapses in 2025, up from 38 in 2024 and 31 in 2023. The majority involved unauthorised construction in densely populated areas of South, East, and Old Delhi where buildings originally designed for residential use have been repurposed for commercial activity without structural upgrades.
Structural engineer Pradeep Sachdeva, who has audited buildings for the Delhi Development Authority, explained that the problem is fundamentally one of incentives. “A three-storey residential building costs Rs 80 lakh to construct but generates Rs 2 lakh per month in rent. Add two more floors with commercial tenants, and the same building generates Rs 8 lakh per month. The financial reward for illegal construction far outweighs the Rs 50,000 fine that MCD typically imposes, when it imposes anything at all.”
The tragedy comes at a time when Delhi’s infrastructure is already under stress. Delhi’s record-breaking heatwave temperatures have put immense strain on power infrastructure, while the Delhi Gymkhana Club eviction order and ongoing Central Vista construction have dominated planning resources.
Government Response and Calls for Structural Audits
Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena visited the collapse site late Saturday night and announced an ex-gratia payment of Rs 10 lakh to the families of the deceased and Rs 2 lakh to the seriously injured. He ordered an immediate structural audit of all multi-storey buildings within a 2-kilometre radius of the collapse site and directed MCD to fast-track enforcement action on all pending unauthorised construction notices.
Chief Minister Atishi Marlena called the collapse “criminal negligence” and demanded that the MCD commissioner be held personally accountable for the enforcement failure. The AAP government has announced a judicial inquiry to be led by a retired Delhi High Court judge.
For the families waiting at Safdarjung Hospital and at the collapse site — some of whom have not heard from loved ones since Saturday evening — the political responses offer little comfort. The rescue operation continues, and with each passing hour, the chances of finding survivors diminish. The NDRF has estimated that the complete debris clearing could take another 24 to 36 hours.
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