At least 36 people were killed scores of others injured when a five-storey residential building collapsed in east Delhi on Monday, police and hospital authorities said.
Some 60 people were rescued from the building in Lalita Park area of Laxmi Nagar, but several others are still feared to be trapped, a senior police official said.
Doctors and officials at Lok Nayak Jai Prakash Hospital and Lal Bahadur Shastri Hospital said 13 dead people were brought to the two centres.
R A Gautam, Medical Superintendent of LBS, said 20 injured were brought to the hospital, of which 13 are in a critical condition.
Fire brigade, police and MCD officials were engaged in the rescue operation and removal of debris with the help of local residents.
Finance minister A K Walia, who rushed to the spot, said the foundation of the old building could have weakened due to the heavy rains in the Monsoon season when water of the Yamuna river flooded the area.
Locals said some water was still there in the basement of the building. Some eyewitnesses also claimed that construction of an extra floor was going on when the incident took place. Many of the injured were labourers.
"Such a large building just went down in minutes," an eyewitness said.
People gathered in large numbers in the area. Locals complained that initially there were no power and no cranes to help in the rescue efforts. Ambulances and PCR jeeps were seen rushing the injured persons to hospitals.
Delhi Health Minister Kiran Walia said that rescue work has been launched on war footage. She said that free treatment has been ordered and hospitals are put on high alert.
