21:35
After a five-storey building collapsed in south Delhi's Satya Niketan on Sunday, killing at least three students, locals blamed repair work and water accumulation in the basement, while the MCD said it could not verify whether work was underway until the debris was cleared.
According to officials, the MCD has evacuated tenants from the building housing a girls' PG adjoining the collapsed building and sealed it.
The five-storey structure, which housed a boys' hostel, was a nearly 30-year-old G+4 building constructed on an area of around 55 square yards in a resettlement colony where permission was granted only for a G+1 unit, a senior MCD official said.
The official said the collapsed building violated norms and was only allowed to build a ground floor plus the first floor.
Locals claimed that repair work and water accumulation in the basement following days of rain might have weakened the building, though civic officials said it was not possible to ascertain whether any work was underway as the debris was yet to be cleared.
Three people have died in the incident, while five others are critical, according to officials. -- PTI
