New Delhi: Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta has ordered a magisterial probe into the Satya Niketan house collapse incident that claimed the lives of five DU students and left several injured.
Earlier on Sunday, September 6, Gupta visited the site where a nearly 30-year-old five-storey building, being used as a boys’ paying guest accommodation, collapsed. She also met the injured admitted to the AIIMS trauma centre.
The hostel accommodated mainly students enrolled in Delhi University colleges across the road.
“Following an on-site review and based on the preliminary assessment, the Chief Minister has ordered a magisterial inquiry of the incident and an FIR against the building owner,” Delhi CMO said in a post on X.
The AIIMS trauma centre received 10 patients, of whom four were brought dead, and one later succumbed to injuries.
Three patients remain admitted and are undergoing treatment, while one underwent limb surgery and another was discharged after observation.
A 19-year-old person was also brought to Safdarjung Hospital at 3.05 pm with minor injuries and was admitted for observation, officials said.
Reacting to the tragedy, President Droupadi Murmu posted on X, “I am deeply saddened by the building collapse in Delhi. My heartfelt condolences to the families who have lost their loved ones in this tragedy. I pray for the swift recovery of the injured.”
The call, the immediate help
A PCR call was received at the South Campus police station at 1.34 pm regarding the collapse of the building near Nanakpura Gurdwara, the police said in a statement.
The area where the incident occurred is close to the heart of Delhi University’s South Campus and has several buildings mostly housing student PGs, hostels and eateries.
Local police staff, the fire brigade, CAT Ambulance and other emergency services are present at the spot. Two NDRF teams comprising 70 personnel and a canine squad have been deployed to look for signs of life. Oxygen cylinders were dropped under the rubble for those stuck to breathe, an NDRF officer said. Fire tenders have been stationed at the site.
Around 30 to 50 students could be trapped under the debris, with some of them calling for help on phones, according to locals.
CM Gupta, Lieutenant Governor Taranjeet Singh Sandhu, Police Commissioner Anurag Kumar, and MP Bansuri Swaraj rushed to the spot after the incident.
Construction work was on in the basement
Officials said the collapsed building was known as ‘Hostel Daze’. Police sources indicate that construction work in the basement was ongoing before the incident.
Rajen Chhetri, a local who works with the Delhi Police, said the building housed around 15 rooms, with two to three students sharing each room.
“Most of the students staying here are from Keralam, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh and study mainly at Motilal Nehru College, Atma Ram Sanatan Dharm College and Sri Venkateswara College. They were paying around Rs 12,000 per bed,” Chhetri said.
Amit Shah speaks to officials
Union Home Minister Amit Shah expressed his grief at the deaths. He said he spoke to the Chief Minister, the Police Commissioner, and the NDMA Director General for an assessment of the on-the-ground situation.
“The injured are being with all necessary medical assistance. Praying for the speedy recovery of all those injured,” he wrote on X.
The Joint Commissioner of Police, New Delhi Range, DCP Southwest and Additional DCP are supervising the operation, an officer said, adding that the building owner is based in Gurugram.
The police booked building owner Hariram and others on charges of culpable homicide, negligence in upkeep of a structure, and endangering safety of others at the South Campus Police Station.
“The exact number of persons trapped/injured is still not known at present. Further details will be shared as and when confirmed,” Delhi Police said in a statement.
MCD cannot verify work was underway until debris cleared
While locals blamed repair work and water accumulation in the basement, the MCD said it could not verify whether work was underway until the debris was cleared.
According to officials, the MCD has evacuated tenants from the building housing a girls’ PG adjoining the collapsed building and sealed it.
The five-storey structure, which housed a boys’ hostel, was a nearly 30-year-old G+4 building constructed on an area of around 55 square yards in a resettlement colony where permission was granted only for a G+1 unit, a senior MCD official said.
The official said the collapsed building violated norms and was only allowed to build a ground floor plus the first floor.
Locals claimed that repair work and water accumulation in the basement following days of rain might have weakened the building, though civic officials said it was not possible to ascertain whether any work was underway as the debris was yet to be cleared.
MCD Deputy Commissioner (South) Rakesh Kumar said the civic body has vacated and sealed the building adjoining the collapsed structure after it was found to be in a dilapidated condition.
“The structure next to the collapsed building appears to be in a dilapidated condition. It has been sealed and will be demolished. All the tenants in the next building have been shifted to the nearest community hall,” he said.
Every student’s life precious: Congress attacks govt
The Congress attacked the Modi government over the tragedy, with Rahul Gandhi asserting that every student’s life is precious and their protection must be ensured under all circumstances.
In a post on X in Hindi, Gandhi said, “The news of the building collapse in Satya Niketan, Delhi, is extremely heartbreaking and alarming. Reports indicate that several people are trapped under the debris, including many students from Delhi University.”
“My appeal is that NDRF, Delhi Fire Service, and all rescue teams reach every single student by making every possible effort, ensuring that the injured receive the best possible immediate treatment, so that no effort is spared in saving anyone,” he said.
Congress and NSUI workers are present at the scene and are ready to provide every possible assistance, the LoP in the Lok Sabha said.
“Due to the lack of good hostels in colleges or universities, students are forced to live in PG accommodations, 40-40 at a time under one roof, in inhumane conditions. Every student’s life is precious, and their protection must be ensured under all circumstances,” Gandhi said.
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said the building collapse is deeply distressing and “an avoidable tragedy”.
“Every effort must be made to rescue those trapped and ensure the best possible treatment for the injured,” Kharge said on X.
Senior Congress leader Abhishek Manu Singhvi said just a day ago, PM Modi was at Delhi University’s SRCC for a carefully staged spectacle, celebrating the university and speaking of its students, and today, at Satya Niketan in South Campus, DU students are trapped under the rubble of an unsafe PG building.
“If the PM truly considers himself a DU student, perhaps he should ask why building safety audits failed the very students who need the government’s protection most,” Singhvi said on X.
AAP alleges negligence
The Aam Aadmi Party, the main Opposition party in Delhi, asked the Rekha Gupta government to take “large-scale” measures to ensure public safety.
Alleging that several such accidents have taken place in Delhi due the government’s “negligence”, AAP convenor Arvind Kejriwal called the Satya Niketan building collapse “extremely tragic and alarming”.
“The government must wake up from its slumber. There is a need to take large-scale action to ensure the safety of citizens,” the former Delhi chief minister said on X in Hindi.
AAP leader Saurabh Bharadwaj compared the incident to the Saket building collapse. “In the name of audits, crores will again be looted from businesses, gyms, hotels, and hospitals. Nothing will change.”
CJP demands accountability
The Cockroach Janata Party (CJP) has demanded accountability and a safety audit of all paying guest (PG) hostels in Delhi.
CJP founder and convenor Abhijeet Dipke criticised the government’s priorities over educational infrastructure, saying students were being forced to live and study in unsafe conditions even as political establishments received attention and resources.
A CJP team led by its organisation co-in-charge and north zone lead Deepak Baliyan and national joint secretary Balakrishna Shukla reached the collapse site and joined residents and emergency personnel in the rescue efforts.
Dipke, in a post on X, questioned PM Narendra Modi over student safety, pointing out that Modi visited Delhi University a day earlier and invoked the term “dimagi Naxal” in his political speech, but spoke little about the condition of educational infrastructure.
“Today, a hostel building in South Campus has collapsed, with students feared to be trapped under the debris. The number of casualties is still unknown,” Dipke said.
“How long must students be made to pay the price for failing infrastructure?” he asked, demanding safe classrooms, hostels, and basic dignity for students.
“Adivasi students are dying in tribal belts due to a lack of care and support, and even students studying in the national capital are not safe,” Dipke said.
“Is that really too much to ask?” he said, asking whether the PM would visit DU again and explain how the collapse happened.
