New Delhi, Sep 28 (IANS): The death toll climbed to seven Wednesday, a day after a three-storey building collapsed in old Delhi, police said even as rescue operations were on.
"The death toll as of now is seven. We are hoping there is no one trapped in the debris anymore," a police officer said.
The Katra Data Ram Ki Haveli in Chandni Mahal area near Jama Masjid collapsed Tuesday around 8 p.m. Tuesday. The incident left around 25 injured.
As the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD), fire brigade officials and the National Disaster Response Force carried on rescue operations, police cordoned off the area.
Besides two unidentified people, the dead included 40-year-old Arshad and four women: Tabassum, 18, Shauqat Bi, 65, Fatima, 65, and Munni Devi, 70, who were declared brought dead at the Lok Nayak Hospital.
The building collapsed due to digging work in an adjacent under construction house, fire officials said.
About 500 members of the spiritual organisation Dera Sacha Sauda also rushed to the site to help in the rescue efforts.
"My mother in-law (Shauqat Bi) was travelling when parts of the building fell over her," Salahuddin told IANS.
Union Human Resource Development Minister Kapil Sibal, who represents the Chandni Chowk constituency, visited the injured at the hospital. Three of them were in critical condition. The Imam of Jama Masjid Syed Ahmed Bukhari, also visited the hospital.
"There is lots of debris to be cleared," said Jai Prakash, a member of the Dera Sacha Sauda.
MCD Commissioner K.S. Mehra has been asked to probe the incident, said MCD's Standing Committee Chairman Yogender Chandolia.