Dozens feared trapped in collapsed building in Delhi

Dozens feared trapped in collapsed building in Delhi Many students residing in a Delhi hostel were believed to be inside their rooms when the structure collapsed on a Sunday, as no classes were scheduled. Eyewitnesses told local media that another building beside the hostel had also fallen. A legislative assembly member said at the scene that some of the trapped students had been making calls from under the rubble. Chief Minister of Delhi Rekha Gupta said an adjacent building had been evacuated "as a precautionary measure." She added, "Every imaginable effort is being made to safely rescue those trapped." Delhi Police said the building had been only 40 or 50 years old. The proprietor of an adjacent store told news agency ANI that the property was under a 100‑year lease and that the leaseholder had undertaken excavation work in the basement to increase their income. "They strengthened the precocious building, but the pillars beneath were weak," he said, noting that the operation workers had also been buried. The National Students' Union of India called on the authorities to analyse the cause of the incident and hold anyone found liable to account. It said, "Negligence with the information of students and communal radical volition not be tolerated at immoderate cost." Police are searching for the proprietor of the building, Times of India reports.