A four-storey residential building collapsed in Delhi’s Seemapuri area on Wednesday afternoon, triggering a search and rescue operation after several people were feared trapped beneath the debris. The Delhi Fire Service (DFS) rushed four fire tenders to the location after receiving an emergency call at around 3:30 pm. Firefighters, police personnel and local residents were involved in efforts to search the collapsed structure and determine whether more people remained trapped inside. Officials said the rescue operation was continuing as teams worked through the debris and assessed the condition of the building and surrounding area. A Delhi Fire Service officer confirmed that a call regarding the building collapse had been received in the afternoon and said that a search and rescue operation was underway. The officer also confirmed that several people were feared trapped beneath the rubble, although there was no immediate official figure for the number of people inside the building when it collapsed.

The absence of a confirmed casualty or trapped-person count meant that rescue teams were continuing to search the site before providing a definitive assessment. Firefighters were deployed to remove debris and look for signs of people who may have been inside the structure at the time of the collapse. Residents in the area provided details about the people believed to have been inside the building. Salim, a local resident who identified the collapsed structure as his house, told PTI that his daughter and son-in-law had initially been trapped inside but were subsequently rescued. He said, however, that at least 12 people could still be trapped under the debris. His account could not immediately establish the final number of people inside the building, but it highlighted the urgency of the rescue operation. Local residents also joined the effort, with some people helping police and emergency personnel locate and pull individuals out from the rubble.

Another resident, Kulsum Khatoon, who lives on a street adjacent to the site, said the building had a shop on the ground floor, with families living on the four floors above it. She said two or three people had been rescued by local residents and police while several others were still believed to be trapped. The accounts from residents indicated that the structure was being used for both commercial and residential purposes, with the ground floor occupied by a shop and the upper floors used as homes. The information also suggested that multiple families could have been inside the building when it collapsed. The collapse prompted an immediate emergency response in the densely populated Seemapuri locality. The arrival of four fire tenders marked the beginning of the formal rescue operation, while police and residents assisted with efforts at the site.

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In building-collapse incidents, rescuers generally have to work carefully around unstable sections of a structure to prevent further collapse while attempting to reach people underneath. At the Seemapuri site, the priority remained locating anyone trapped and bringing them out safely. Officials were expected to assess the structure and surrounding buildings as the rescue operation continued, while further information on casualties and the circumstances leading to the collapse was awaited. The incident has also renewed attention on building safety in the national capital, particularly in densely populated neighbourhoods where residential structures can accommodate several families. The Seemapuri collapse comes only weeks after another building-related tragedy in Delhi, when a paying guest accommodation in Satya Niketan collapsed, killing seven people. That incident had raised questions about structural safety and the risks faced by people living in densely occupied buildings.

However, there was no immediate official indication that the Seemapuri collapse was connected to the earlier incident, and the cause of Wednesday’s collapse had yet to be established. As the rescue operation continued, authorities were expected to provide further information about the number of people rescued, those still missing and any casualties. The immediate focus remained on searching the debris and ensuring that emergency teams could safely access the collapsed portions of the building. Residents and witnesses were also helping authorities identify people who may have been inside when the structure came down. Until the search is completed, the exact scale of the incident remains unclear. Officials will also need to establish what caused the four-storey structure to collapse and whether any safety or structural concerns had previously been reported at the property.

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