Roof collapse near dargah: Toll mounts to 7, police file negligence case

New Delhi, Aug 16 (IANS) The death toll in a roof collapse at a dargah’s dwelling unit in Humayun’s Tomb complex rose to seven on Saturday, even as the Delhi Police registered a negligence FIR in connection with the rain-related incident.

So far, three women and four men have died in the collapse, which allegedly resulted from a weak foundation and seepage in the dwelling unit attached to Dargah Patte Wali, the police said.

The FIR was registered at Nizamuddin Police Station under penal provisions dealing with causing death by negligence, an act endangering life or personal safety and negligent conduct with respect to pulling down, repairing or constructing buildings.

On Friday, the police identified the deceased as Moinuddin, Anita Saini, Swaroop Chand, Meena Arora, Monu Arora and Arif. The injured were identified as Mohammad Shameem, Aryan, Gudiya, and Rafat Parveen.

After the roof collapse, the victims were rushed for treatment at AIIMS Trauma Centre, Lok Nayak Hospital and Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital.

“The roof of the single-storey structure with two rooms adjacent to Dargah Patte Wali caved in around 3.51 p.m.,” said a fire department official.

The fire department rushed four fire tenders with 25 firemen to the spot after receiving the information.

District Magistrate Dr Sarvan Kumar said those killed in the incident included residents of Nizamuddin, Vasant Kunj Enclave and Zakir Nagar.

The victims included a mother (56)-daughter (25) duo from Vasant Kunj Enclave, the police said, adding that one of the hospitalised men hailed from Nawada in Bihar.

“Teams of NDRF, DDMA, CATS Ambulance and police shifted the victims to the hospital,” he said.

Investigation indicated that at the time of the cave-in, the visitors had come to meet the imam who used to make taveez or religious pendants for them, he said.

Shivansh Saini, son of Anita, 58, a resident of Jangpura who died in the incident, said on Friday, “We got a phone call saying that my mother has been injured in a wall collapse. When I reached AIIMS, I was shown her photo and told that she died during treatment.”

An official said, initially, 10-12 people were trapped under the debris, out of whom six died on the way to the hospital.

At the time of the incident, the dargah’s imam was also inside the building, said a rescue team official.

An eyewitness who was among the first responders said he heard a loud rumbling noise after which he rushed to the spot to find the victims trapped under the debris.

The incident came close to two rain-related tragic incidents on Thursday, in which a motorcyclist died in the Kalkaji area in southeast Delhi after a tree collapsed on a busy road, and two children died in a wall collapse in Basant Nagar in southwest Delhi.

--IANS

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