Father’s 19-hour wait ends in grief as daughter’s body recovered in Saket collapse

Ekta, a 24-year-old BDS graduate preparing for FMGE, was found dead under the debris of the Saket building collapse after her father waited overnight in hope. She had spoken to family hours before the tragedy as rescue operations continued

New Delhi: Nearly a day after he arrived and waited anxiously beside the rubble for news of his missing daughter, Ramesh Chand’s worst fears were realised on Sunday when rescuers recovered her body from the debris of the collapsed building in south Delhi’ Saket. A resident of Rajasthan’s Alwar, Chand said he rushed to Delhi overnight after receiving a call from students who knew his 24-year-old daughter, informing him that she could not be contacted following Saturday’s collapse.

The daughter, Ekta, a Bachelor of Dental Surgery (BDS) graduate, had been living in Delhi for the past year while preparing for the Foreign Medical Graduate Examination (FMGE), scheduled to be held on June 28.

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Just weeks before her 25th birthday on June 25 and days ahead of the crucial examination, she had appeared for a test on Saturday morning which, according to her family, had gone well.

“Her exam had gone well and she was very happy. She spoke to family members twice in the afternoon and everyone at home was celebrating her performance,” Chand told PTI. According to her father, preparation for the FMGE had become the focus of Ekta’s life over the past several months. Like hundreds of other aspirants in the Saidulajab area, she spent her days attending classes and studying for the examination.

Chand said that fellow students had contacted him around 9 pm, saying her phone had become unreachable after the collapse.

“Students who were peers of my daughter called me and said that she had gone to the canteen to have dinner and since then they were unable to contact her. We immediately left for Delhi. Since then, we had only been waiting,” he said.

Before the recovery of her body, Chand had expressed anguish over the uncertainty surrounding his daughter’s fate. “It has been nearly 19 hours. We have neither found my daughter nor received any clear information. We do not know whether she is alive or not,”he had said.

Recalling his daughter’s time away from home, Chand said he often sent sweets and homemade ghee to her through students travelling from their village.

“Students from our village often travel together. Sometimes I would send sweets or homemade ghee through them for her. She was a very sincere girl,” he said.

Several students said the canteen affected by the collapse was a popular gathering place for medical aspirants living in nearby paying guest accommodations.

“Most students eat here. Restaurants nearby are expensive, but here a thali costs around Rs 70,” said a student who knew Ekta. The area around the collapse site houses numerous coaching institutes, libraries, cafes, offices, salons, co-working spaces and educational centres, attracting large numbers of students and working professionals every day, locals said.

One student said around 150-200 students were present in a neighbouring library building when the collapse occurred “We felt strong vibrations and tremors. The ground was buzzing beneath us. There was panic and everyone rushed out,” he said.

Students also alleged that construction work had been underway on the upper floors of the structure and claimed that parts of the building appeared to be newly built.

Chand had blamed official negligence for the tragedy and had expressed frustration over what he described as a lack of clear information for families waiting at the site.

Many students said they remained distressed by the incident, with some losing friends and others witnessing the collapse from nearby buildings. The tragedy has also disrupted preparation schedules for several aspirants studying in the locality.

Authorities said a multi-agency rescue operation involving the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), Delhi Fire Services, Delhi Disaster Management Authority (DDMA), Delhi Police and volunteers continued through the night and into Sunday Officials said rescue teams deployed heavy machinery, hydraulic cutters, victim-location cameras and sniffer dogs to search the debris.

The exact cause of the collapse is yet to be ascertained. A criminal case has been registered and a magisterial inquiry ordered into the incident.