Pregnant Delhi woman calls family from rubble of collapsed building, dies after rescue

A Seemapuri residential building collapsed on Wednesday, trapping residents under heavy debris. Gulafsa's call from beneath the rubble underscored both the rescue effort and the tragedy.

In Short

• A four-storey Seemapuri residential building collapsed on Wednesday afternoon, killing three
• Eight people, including a three-year-old child, were injured and hospitalised
• Fire, police, NDRF and civic teams ran an extensive rescue operation

A four-storey residential building in northeast Delhi collapsed on Wednesday afternoon, killing at least three people, including 21-year-old Gulafsa, who was four months pregnant, and a toddler aged around one-and-a-half years, officials said. Eight others, including a three-year-old child, were injured and taken to hospitals.

Gulafsa had called her family from under the rubble and guided rescuers to her location after the building came down at her parents' home in Seemapuri. She was pulled out after hours of effort and taken to GTB Hospital, where she later died. Rescue teams continued to search the debris through the day as officials began a probe into the cause of the collapse.

According to her relatives, Gulafsa, who was known at home as Gudiya, was taking a shower on the second floor when the building collapsed and trapped her under the debris. She had been staying at her mother Salma's home for the past one-and-a-half months during her pregnancy and had come there with her five-year-old son.

Her uncle Saleem said she managed to call from beneath the rubble and tell the family where she was. The family then passed on the information to the rescue teams. "She called from underneath the rubble and told us she was in the washroom. Based on what she told us, rescuers calculated the height of the second floor and were able to reach her. After that, they cut through debris and pulled her out. She was unresponsive at the time. It is a miracle we were able to reach her," he said.

Another relative, Masoom, said the family was deeply worried after receiving her call. She said Gulafsa's mother had managed to escape along with her grandson and son, but Gulafsa remained trapped. "Thankfully, Salma was able to get out with her grandson and son, but Gudiya was stuck inside. She called us and said she needed water -- her throat was parched. She had been under the rubble for a while and we were very tense. We were just hoping she would be brought out as soon as possible," Masoom said.

Masoom said the family's anxiety grew as they feared others could also be trapped inside the collapsed structure. "We saw a small child who was severely injured and his parents were extremely worried. We think few more children could be inside. We just hope they are also brought out safely," she said.

Officials said the body of a child aged around one-and-a-half years was pulled out of the rubble. Eight injured people were rescued and shifted to hospitals.

At the site, residents were seen climbing over piles of bricks and concrete and using their bare hands to remove smaller pieces of debris while searching for people trapped underneath. Others stood near the collapsed structure, calling out and listening for any response from below. In visuals from the spot, locals and rescuers were seen working together, pulling out bricks and chunks of the structure. At one point, a group of people was seen pulling a woman out of the debris and carrying her away in their arms.

Several people were seen crying and appearing distressed as the search operation continued. Excavators and other heavy machinery were brought in to remove larger piles of rubble, while paramedics and emergency personnel attended to those rescued and shifted the injured to hospitals.

The Delhi Fire Services said it received a call about the collapse around 3.30 pm and sent fire tenders to the spot. Teams from the Delhi Police, Delhi Disaster Management Authority, National Disaster Response Force, Municipal Corporation of Delhi and Delhi Urban Shelter Improvement Board joined the search-and-rescue operation.

Police said the four-storey building had been constructed on a plot measuring around 225 square feet. The Municipal Corporation of Delhi, however, described it as a three-storey structure in a jhuggi-jhopri area spread over around 22 square yards in a DUSIB area near Idgah Machhli Mandi.

Officials said the cause of the collapse was being investigated. The MCD said neighbours had claimed cracks appeared in the structure after tremors caused by an earthquake in Uttarakhand on Tuesday evening, and that the owner had been in the process of vacating the building. The actual cause of the collapse is yet to be ascertained.

Heavy machinery remained deployed at the site as rescue teams continued searching through the debris for anyone still trapped, after the collapse left at least three people dead, several injured, and Gulafsa's family mourning a rescue that ended in loss.

- Ends
With PTI inputs