Man killed after three-storey ‘unsafe’ building collapses near Azad Market

A 45-year-old man lost his life when a three-storey building, housing shops and godowns, collapsed in the Pul Mithai area of North Delhi’s Lohia Chowk in the early hours of Friday.

The deceased has been identified as Manoj Sharma. He was an employee at shop number 7A, owned by Gulshan Mahajan, and had been working there for the past 30 years. The shop was located in the busy Azad Market area that mainly deals in bags and canvas cloth.

The police confirmed that Sharma’s body was recovered during debris clearance and declared dead at the hospital. “One injured person was removed from the debris and was declared dead at the hospital. He was identified as Manoj Sharma,” an official said.

The building, located at Tokri Walan in Pul Mithai near Bara Hindu Rao, had three shops on the ground floor and godowns above. According to the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC), the structure had already been declared unsafe prior to the commencement of nearby tunnelling works for the Janakpuri West–RK Ashram Marg Metro corridor.

The DMRC said it had issued letters to building owners on June 12, 2025, clearly advising evacuation due to the building’s extremely dilapidated condition. The structures were vacated as a precautionary measure and additional subsoil grouting and external supports were provided to reduce risks during tunnelling, the corporation added.

Despite these measures, the buildings collapsed around 2 am on Friday. The National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), Delhi Police, and other agencies launched immediate debris removal and rescue operations. The site has since been barricaded to prevent further accidents.

Expressing condolences, DMRC Principal Executive Director Anuj Dayal said an ex-gratia of Rs 5 lakh would be given to the next of kin of the deceased. He added that tunnelling work at the site is being carried out by M/s AFCONS and that a detailed investigation will be conducted to ascertain the cause of the collapse.

Meanwhile, the police have registered an FIR under relevant sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and have begun an investigation into the circumstances leading to the incident.