A four-storey residential building in the densely populated Bhajanpura neighbourhood of northeast New Delhi collapsed early Sunday morning, killing at least one person and leaving an estimated 30 to 40 residents trapped beneath tonnes of concrete and steel debris.
The National Disaster Response Force deployed four specialised urban search-and-rescue teams to the site within 45 minutes of the collapse, along with heavy hydraulic cranes, acoustic life detectors, and canine units trained to locate survivors beneath rubble.
By midday, rescue teams had extracted 12 survivors, including three children, from the wreckage. At least eight of the rescued were transported to Lok Nayak Hospital with serious crush injuries. Emergency medical tents were erected at the perimeter as ambulance teams from five hospitals coordinated triage operations.
Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta visited the site and announced immediate ex-gratia compensation of ₹10 lakh for the family of the deceased and ₹2 lakh for each seriously injured survivor.
Municipal records indicate that the building, constructed in 2003, had been flagged for structural deficiencies during a routine inspection in January 2025, but no evacuation or remediation orders were issued. The Delhi Development Authority has launched an investigation into the regulatory failure.
