: A 26-year-old woman and her two children were killed when a portion of the roof of their house caved in at West Delhi’s Uttam Nagar in the early hours of Monday.
The deceased - Manju (26), Deepak (4) and Sanya (2) - were sleeping when the incident happened. Manju’s husband, Sushil, is undergoing treatment for injuries.
Neighbours said they had woken up around 2 a.m. to a sound which was similar to that of an “earthquake”. When they rushed out, they saw that the house, where the family lived on the first floor and were using the ground floor as a cattle shed, had collapsed.
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“We saw a lot of naked wires jutting out of the debris. So we decided to cut the electrical connections to the house. Then we proceeded to remove the debris,” said Ghanshyam Prajapati, a neighbour.
Mr. Prajapati added that Sushil, meanwhile, had managed to get out of the house, and joined others in the rescue operation. Officials from the fire department, police, municipal corporations and local administration were present to help the victims.
“The children and their mother were unconscious when we found them. They were taken to hospital, but declared dead on arrival,” recalled another neighbour, Rohit.
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Of the 12 buffaloes that were kept in the shed, two were killed and six were injured.
While locals blamed the municipal bodies and Delhi government agencies for the poor drainage of the area which they claimed had weakened the structure, Delhi BJP president Satish Upadhyay, who visited the spot, targeted the Delhi Jal Board (DJB).
Mr. Upadhyay said the collapse was the result of negligence on part of the Delhi Jal Board, Delhi Water Minister Kapil Mishra and local MLA Naresh Balyan.
A statement released by the South Delhi Municipal Corporation read, “Development work is being looked after by the DSIIDC, whereas the DJB has been executing work in the colony. The SDMC is only responsible for cleaning of small drains in the colony.”
Congress leader Mahesh Sharma also visited the site.