New Delhi rocked by building collapse

Ten killed, including five childen, and scores feared trapped after dilapidated block crumbles in Indian capital.

Police say the building that collapsed had extra floors that were added illegally [Reuters]

A dilapidated block of flats has collapsed in the Indian capital New Delhi, killing at least 10 people, including five children, in the country’s latest building disaster.

Rescuers os Saturday scrambled to find survivors after the four-storey residential building crumbled, with scores of people feared trapped under the debris.

“Ten people including five children and three women have been killed in the building collapse while two people have been injured,” Madhur Verma, the Delhi police commissioner, was quoted as saying.

The decades-old dilapidated building started crumbling on Saturday morning.

“This is a 40-year-old building. They have illegally built floor after floor,” Rajesh Bhatia, a senior municipal official told NDTV news channel.

The government has ordered an inquiry into the the cause of the accident, local media reported.

Building collapses are common in India, as lax regulations and the demand for cheap housing often spurs construction that uses substandard materials and adds unauthorised extra floors.

Earlier this year more than 15 people were killed in the western state of Goa when a residential building collapsed.

Source: News Agencies