Six Killed in Saidullajab Building Collapse Near Saket

A four-storey building collapsed on Saturday evening in Saidullajab near Saket, South Delhi, killing six people, including five students. Police stated that, prima facie, illegal construction work on the upper floors of the building over the past several months appeared to have caused the collapse.

The incident occurred at approximately 7:15 p.m. when around 20 people, mostly students residing in local paying guest accommodations, had gathered for dinner at a kitchen adjacent to the building. The structure crashed down, trapping those inside under the rubble.

Emergency services launched a rescue operation that lasted 18 hours and concluded on Sunday. Among the six victims were five students and the woman who ran the kitchen.

The victims included Ravi Prakash, a 26-year-old aspiring doctor who was the eldest of five siblings. The son of a farmer from Gonda, Uttar Pradesh, Prakash had completed his MBBS in Kyrgyzstan and was preparing for the Foreign Medical Graduate examination. His uncle, Jaiprakash, said the family had hoped he would become a doctor.

Nalin, a 22-year-old aspirant for the Graduate Aptitude Test in Engineering (GATE) from Nalanda, Bihar, was also killed. The son of a farmer, Nalin had moved to Delhi six months prior and was staying in a paying guest accommodation in the area.

Three other students—Ekta, Alok, and Kapil—lost their lives in the tragedy. Ekta was an MBBS aspirant whose body was recovered from the debris at around 2:00 p.m. on Sunday. Her father had rushed to Delhi from Alwar, Rajasthan, after she failed to make her routine evening phone call. Alok and Kapil were both preparing for the GATE exam.

The sixth victim was 35-year-old Parvati, who operated the adjacent kitchen. She was reportedly preparing an order of 16 parathas for the students when the building collapsed.

Police continue to investigate the incident, focusing on the illegal construction activities reported on the upper floors.