Six killed in Saidullajab building collapse near Saket

Six people, including five students, were killed when a four-storey building collapsed in Saidullajab near Saket on Saturday evening. The incident occurred at approximately 7:15 p.m. when the structure crashed down on an adjacent kitchen where students had gathered for dinner.

According to the local police, illegal construction work had been underway on the upper floors of the building for several months, which appears to have caused the collapse. In response, the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) has suspended two engineers for negligence and dereliction of duty.

The victims include 35-year-old Parvati, who ran the kitchen where around 20 students regularly ate. Parvati was preparing an order when the building collapsed. Her body was recovered from the debris 16 hours after the rescue operation began.

Five students also lost their lives in the tragedy. Among them was 26-year-old Ravi Prakash, an MBBS graduate from Kyrgyzstan who was preparing for the Foreign Medical Graduate examination. His family, residing in Gonda, Uttar Pradesh, had hoped he would become a doctor.

Another victim, 22-year-old Nalin from Nalanda, Bihar, had moved to Delhi six months prior to prepare for the Graduate Aptitude Test in Engineering (GATE). The other student victims were identified as Ekta, an MBBS aspirant, and Alok and Kapil, who were both preparing for the GATE exam.

The search and rescue operation lasted for 18 hours, concluding on Sunday. Ekta's body was pulled from the rubble at around 2 p.m. on Sunday, after her family rushed to Delhi from Alwar, Rajasthan, when she failed to make her daily evening call home.

Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta visited the site on Sunday to review the rescue operations and stated that those responsible for the tragedy would be held accountable.