Woman killed, daughter rescued as portion of building collapses in Delhi’s Uttam Nagar

A 32-year-old woman died and her five-year-old daughter was injured as a portion of a three-storey building collapsed while girders were being removed in west Delhi's Uttam Nagar area on Friday afternoon, police and fire officials said.

According to the Delhi Fire Service (DFS), a call was received around 3.10 pm, prompting the dispatch of five fire tenders to the location. A joint rescue operation was initiated, involving the DFS, police, the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), BSES, and disaster management teams.

Deputy Commissioner of Police (Dwarka) said multiple PCR calls were received at 3.07 pm, 3.08 pm and 3.21 pm reporting that a building had collapsed and several people, including a woman and her daughter, were trapped under the debris.

The building, located in the Hastsal Vihar area, belongs to Sonu Yadav, who is married to Pradeep Yadav. Police mentioned that the couple had purchased the 48-square-yard property from Neeraj, 36, who is a resident of the same locality.

Preliminary investigation revealed that the building consisted of a ground floor, a first floor, and a partially constructed second floor, which included girders. On Friday, Pradeep and his wife were in the process of removing some girders when part of the structure collapsed, officials said.

During the subsequent rescue operation, the woman — identified as Poonam, who is Neeraj's wife — and their daughter, Navya, were extracted from the debris and rushed to a nearby hospital. While Navya is currently receiving treatment, Poonam succumbed to her injuries.

"Teams are still clearing the debris to ensure no one else is trapped inside. Necessary legal action is being taken," the officer added.

Police said that Neeraj was expected to vacate the building by October 20.

Earlier, the fire department had reported that an entire building had collapsed, but later clarified that only a portion of the structure had caved in.

Further investigation is under way to ascertain whether any safety norms were violated during the construction work, officials said.