Delhi monsoon mayhem: Toll rises to 8 in record rainfall in 88 years

Bodies of three labourers Saturday pulled from the rubble of a wall that collapsed at a construction site in the Vasant Vihar

New Delhi: The bodies of three labourers were on Saturday pulled from the rubble of a wall that collapsed at a construction site in the Vasant Vihar area here amid heavy rain, officials said. With this, the number of people killed in rain-related incidents in Delhi has climbed to eight.

The under-construction wall collapsed on Friday and the incident was reported to the Delhi Fire Services (DFS) around 5:30 am. DFS officials said the bodies of three labourers have been pulled from the rubble. Two of them have been identified as Santosh Kumar Yadav (19) and Santosh (38). The third labourer is yet to be identified.

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Cranes were used to clear the debris and water was pumped out of the foundation pit to recover the bodies. The bodies were taken to Safdarjung Hospital, they said.

A search operation is underway to ensure that no one else is trapped under the rubble. Teams of National Disaster Response Force, Delhi Disaster Management Authority and civic agencies are carrying out the operation, the officials said.

Five people died in rain-related incidents on Friday as the monsoon arrived with a fury, lashing the city with its highest rainfall in a single day of June in 88 years.

The deceased included a cab driver who died after a portion of a canopy at the Delhi airport collapsed, a 39-year-old man who was electrocuted in Rohini’s Prem Nagar area and three people who drowned in New Usmanpur and Shalimar Bagh.