One dead, three hurt in partial building collapse in Sarita Vihar

NEW DELHI: A 35-year-old welder died while three others were injured when a residential building in Sarita Vihar collapsed partially on Thursday afternoon while they were trying to fix a crack that had developed during a recent tremor. The injured included the owner of the house.
The dead man has been identified as Dharmbir, a resident of Greater Noida who is survived by his wife and 5-year-old twin children.The injured are Harish Rotella, the 57-year-old owner of the house; Shivam, Dharmbir’s 22-year-old nephew; and Khalil (55).
According to police, Sarita Vihar police station received a call around 12.05pm and a team that went to the spot in southeast Delhi came to know that welding work was being carried out on the terrace of the third-floor during which a portion of the terrace collapsed.
As the cops shifted the injured to AIIMS Trauma Centre, they got to know that another person, who was doing the welding, was still stuck under the debris. Police and five teams of firefighters tried to rescue him. But when they couldn’t succeed, a team of National Disaster Response Force, led by assistant commandant Vikash Saini, stepped in and pulled Dharmbir out, said deputy commissioner of police (southeast) R P Meena.
Dharmbir was also taken to AIIMS Trauma Centre in a CATS ambulance in a critical condition, but he died during treatment, Meena added. The condition of the others is stable.
“A case for causing death due to negligence and under other relevant sections has been registered at Sarita Vihar police station. A team of forensic experts was also called at the spot for inspection. Dharmbir’s body has been preserved in the AIIMS mortuary for postmortem and the investigation is still on,” Meena said.
A member of the local residents welfare association said, “This was an unauthorised construction and we have stopped complaining as no one listens to us.” Although the work was completed around two-three months ago, he said, the structure wasn’t probably holding properly and didn’t fully dry especially with the winter and rain. “Some repair work was going on when the collapse happened,” the RWA member added.