Chawri Bazaar building collapse: 2 dead, several feared trapped in Old Delhi

A three-storey building that was still under construction collapsed in Old Delhi’s Chawri Bazaar on Thursday morning, 5 November, killing at least two people. Rescue teams were still digging through the rubble at midday, and officials said several people could be trapped underneath.

The building stood in Gali Sitara (also written Gali Sattara), in the Sheesh Mahal area, opposite the Chawri Bazaar Metro station. According to Delhi Fire Services, the call came in at 10:15 AM local time, with the caller saying the building had come down and people might be inside. Some early local reports put the collapse itself a little earlier, at around 9:50 AM.

What we know so far

• Dead: at least two, according to fire officials and Delhi Police.
• Injured: one person was pulled out of the debris alive and taken for treatment, local reports said.
• Trapped: an unknown number. Officials said it was not yet clear how many people were inside when it fell.
• Cause: not known yet. Officials have not said why the structure gave way.

The death toll is preliminary and may change as the search goes on.

A hard place to reach

Chawri Bazaar is one of the oldest and most crowded markets in Delhi, famous for wedding cards, paper and brass. Its lanes are so narrow that fire engines cannot get close. Rescue workers had to walk several metres down a tight passage on foot to reach the site, which slowed the operation.

Delhi Fire Services sent six units in total, including water tenders and an incident response team, and an assistant divisional officer was sent to lead the work on the ground. Officials asked for more manpower and a senior officer as the scale became clear. The National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) also joined the search, according to local media reports.

Part of a worrying pattern

This is not the first collapse in Delhi this autumn. Local reports note that two men were killed in a collapse in the Milan Garden area only days ago, and that a collapse in Satya Niketan two months back killed seven people. Old buildings, illegal extra floors and construction work squeezed into crowded areas have been blamed for many such accidents in the city.

For Pakistani readers, the scene is a familiar one: Karachi’s Lyari has seen deadly collapses in lanes just as narrow, where rescue was just as slow.

The next thing to watch is the final count from the rescue teams, and whether the Municipal Corporation of Delhi says if the construction had permission.