Delhi Building Collapse: Fourth Body Found Under Debris in Seemapuri as Rescue Continues

Rescuers recovered a fourth body early on Thursday from the debris of a four-storey residential building that collapsed in Delhi's New Seemapuri area, raising the death toll to four. Rescue operations are continuing at the site.

The building, near Idgah Machhli Mandi, came down on Wednesday afternoon. Eight injured people were pulled out and taken to Rajiv Gandhi Super Speciality Hospital in Tahirpur.

North East District Magistrate Ajay Kumar said the building, at the corner of a lane, collapsed at around 3.15 pm. It covered roughly 22 to 25 square yards, and seven or eight people were inside at the time.

Deputy Commissioner of Police (Shahdara) Rajendra Prasad Meena said police received the information at 3.40 pm and that all agencies were at the scene. Senior Fire Officer Manish Kumar said the fire control room was alerted at 3.30 pm and that some people were believed to be trapped under the debris.

At one point, the DM said, two or three people might still be trapped.

THE DEAD AND THE INJURED

Of the first three victims, one was a girl of about 12 whose identity has not been established, one was Gulafsa, 21, who was about four months pregnant, and the third was a child who has not yet been identified. The identity of the fourth person has also not been established.

The eight injured are Momin Mirja (56), a three-year-old boy, Abdul Rehman (28), Devruddin (28), Salma (50), Chote (34), Sakina (35) and Samad (30).

Teams from the Delhi Fire Services, Delhi Police, DDMA, MCD, CATS and the NDRF are at the site, along with ambulances and heavy machinery.

Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta has directed all agencies to coordinate closely and speed up the rescue. "The situation is being continuously monitored," she said.

Delhi Environment Minister Manjinder Singh Sirsa said the administration is working to help the affected families and wished the injured a speedy recovery.

Witnesses told officials that an adjacent building was being demolished at the time, possibly with machinery that caused vibrations, and that this may have caused the collapse. The DM said the authorities are looking into it.

A SECOND COLLAPSE IN A MONTH

The collapse comes a month after another one in Delhi's Satya Niketan area on September 6, in which seven people died. In April 2025, 11 people died when a four-storey building collapsed in the Mustafabad area of North East Delhi.

The NDRF described it as a "pancake collapse," in which a structure falls straight down, and said narrow lanes limited the use of heavy machinery in the rescue.

Gupta, who ordered an investigation, said weak buildings were being built in violation of all rules and that such buildings across the city should be identified.

With inputs from ANI