New Delhi: The death toll in the Chawri Bazar building collapse rose to six Saturday after rescue teams found four more bodies under the debris of the under-construction structure.
Around 15 labourers were working at the site when the building collapsed at 9.48am Thursday, according to locals. A joint rescue operation was launched involving Delhi Police , National Disaster Response Force , Delhi Fire Service and Municipal Corporation of Delhi .
All four accused, including three contractors, have been arrested, said police. Meanwhile, the owner of the building, Saimullah, was arrested Saturday. Six fire tenders were deployed at the spot, but heavy machineries, such as earthmovers, couldn’t enter the narrow lanes, and rescuers had to carry on manually with small equipment, slowing down the operation.
Sharma, who had started coming to Delhi around 15 years ago in search of work, was the sole breadwinner for his family, which comprises his mother, wife and four children.
“He had told us that he would come home for Chhath Puja. Govt should take the responsibility for their upbringing,” said his cousin, Shambhu Kumar. The eldest of five brothers, Sharma had returned to Delhi four months ago to work at the construction site near Ajmeri Gate in Old Delhi . Now he has left behind four young children. With the rescue operation stretching into the third day, relatives of those feared trapped waited outside the site, praying to find their loved ones alive. As the day progressed and more bodies were recovered from the rubble, they started losing hope.