Saket building collapse: Delayed class likely saved many students

A delayed class may have reportedly saved many students when the multi-storey commercial building collapsed in south Delhi's Saidulajab area on Saturday evening, leaving six people dead and eight injured. The building on Westend Marg, near Saket Metro Station, housed a coaching institute, cafes and offices. Search and rescue operations continued for more than 24 hours as teams worked to determine whether more people were trapped under the debris.

According to a report in The New Indian Express, a student who escaped said their Saturday class had started late because the teacher did not arrive, and that probably reduced the number of students present in the building. The student also said construction work was already underway there. Another student said they first felt vibrations and thought it was an earthquake. Moments later, a stronger shock came, glass windows shattered and, when they rushed outside, the area was covered in dust and they realised that a neighbouring building had collapsed.

Police said most of the victims were preparing for competitive examinations, including the Foreign Medical Graduate Examination. Family members and friends rushed to the site and waited for hours hoping their loved ones would be pulled out alive. Students and residents described scenes of panic, dust and devastation after the structure came crashing down at around 7:40 pm.

According to police, the five to seven-storey building collapsed while construction work was reportedly underway on its upper floor. Officials said the structure was reduced to rubble, with a large part of the debris falling onto an adjoining tin-shed canteen frequented by students preparing for medical and engineering entrance examinations. Residents told rescue personnel that around 10 to 15 people were feared trapped beneath the debris.

Among the dead were Ravi, 24, Kapil, 28, Nalin Ray, 23, Alok, Parvati, 35, and Ekta, 24. The injured were identified as Kshitij Pratap, 25, Neelam Yadav, 25, Anuj Dixit, 22, Tarun, 25, Saika Khan, 27, Aastha, 26, Aditya Sharma, 24, and Vishal, 25. Officials said five of those injured died at AIIMS and one person died at Safdarjung Hospital, while five injured were undergoing treatment at AIIMS and three had been discharged.

An eyewitness said there was a loud sound and the area turned into a dust ball. Another eyewitness told PTI that one moment students were eating dinner, revising notes and discussing upcoming examinations, and the next they were running for their lives as a deafening roar tore through the evening and a thick cloud of dust engulfed the area. Footage that surfaced on social media also showed a student recording after noticing stones and bricks falling onto the road, before the building collapsed within seconds.