One more body was pulled out from the debris of the collapsed building Thursday morning taking the death toll to 70, even as the exercise to remove the rubble continued for the third day.
“The body of a 25-year-old man was recovered from the mound of rubbles at around 7.30 a.m. and have been handed over to the hospital authorities,” a fire brigade official said.
With this, the death toll in the building collapse in Lalita Park area of Laxmi Nagar has mounted to 70, which includes 29 women and 17 children.
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Last night, rescue workers recovered the bodies of a young boy and a 40-year-old woman while removing the rubble.
Over 60 families, mostly labourers from West Bengal, were living in the cramped quarters of the 15-year-old building, where an illegal fifth floor was under construction. Eighty-two injured were receiving treatment at various hospitals in the city.
On Wednesday, the Delhi Government appointed a one-member judicial commission to probe the incident “in view of the scale of the mishap, large number of casualties and number of complex issues connected with the incident.”
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The inquiry would be conducted by former Delhi High Court judge Justice Lokeshwar Prashad. He will probe all aspects of the incident including whether there was any procedural, administrative and statutory lapses that led to the tragedy. He has been asked to file his report within three months.
The MCD has also asked the occupants of as many as 38 “dangerous” buildings in the East Delhi area to evacuate immediately after a survey it conducted in the area following directions from the Delhi Government.