Overview
- The collapse occurred on Thursday, November 5 at about 9:50 a.m. in Gali Sitara near Chawri Bazaar Metro station and has so far killed two people while others were initially feared trapped.
- At least six fire and rescue units, plus NDRF and senior officers, are conducting searches and evacuations as neighbouring buildings showing new cracks are cleared.
- Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta ordered FIRs against the contractor and suspended an assistant engineer and a junior engineer from the Municipal Corporation of Delhi as an inquiry was launched.
- Hindustan Times reported that Delhi Police warned the MCD about unauthorised work at the same address in June, raising questions about enforcement gaps in following up on recorded violations.
- The Chawri Bazaar collapse adds to a string of recent Delhi accidents that magisterial probes have linked to illegal alterations, ignored complaints and weak enforcement, and officials say reforms to audits and monitoring will be examined; separately, a partial building collapse in Karachi on November 5 killed one person and prompted a Sindh SBCA report request.