Man killed as 3 buildings collapse near metro site

A 45-year-old man died early on Friday when three ageing multi-storey commercial buildings collapsed near a Delhi Metro tunneling site in Azad Market, north Delhi. The incident occurred around 2am, shortly after midnight, in Pul Mithai—within the “influence zone” of the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC)'s Janakpuri West-RK Ashram Marg corridor tunnelling project.

- Karn Pratap Singh

DMRC announced an ex-gratia compensation of ₹5 lakh for the victim's family and said it had written to the owners of the buildings before tunnelling work started, declaring the structures unsafe and requesting evacuation.

The buildings—two four-storey structures and one with three floors—were around 30 years old and housed shops and godowns dealing in bags and canvas fabric. Though about 25 people usually worked across the three buildings—numbered 5A, 6A, and 7A—only one person was inside at the time of the collapse, police said, as the incident occurred after usual business hours (10am to 8pm). A truck parked outside was also crushed under debris.

Delhi Fire Service chief Atul Garg said the fire control room received a call about the collapse at 2am. “Three fire tenders were rushed to the spot. One person was pulled out and taken to Bara Hindu Rao Hospital, where he was declared brought dead,” Garg said.

The deceased, Manoj Sharma, had lived and worked in the building for three decades and was employed at shop number 7A, said deputy commissioner of police (North) Raja Banthia.