‘Felt like earthquake’, people cried ‘save us’: Witnesses recall moment building collapsed in Delhi’s Satya Niketan
Building Collapse in South Delhi Traps Dozens of Students; Rescue Effort Underway
Indiadailyupdate.com – A multi-storey building housing a boys' paying-guest (PG) facility in the Satya Niketan neighbourhood of south Delhi's RK Puram sector came crashing down on Sunday afternoon, killing at least one person and leaving an estimated 40 to 50 residents feared buried beneath the rubble. Rescue crews have been working through the debris since shortly after the collapse, while those pulled out with injuries were rushed to AIIMS Delhi for emergency treatment, according to officials monitoring the operation.
The scale of the disaster became apparent within minutes. Police confirmed that they did not yet have a verified headcount of how many occupants were inside the structure at the moment it gave way. Neighbouring residents, many of them fellow students from other PGs in the vicinity, joined the rescue effort almost immediately, hauling broken concrete and twisted metal aside by hand and using whatever tools they could find to probe for survivors beneath the wreckage.
Witnesses Describe an Earthquake-Like Rumble Before the Structure Failed
Those who were inside or near the building at the time of the collapse described a sudden, deep rumbling that mimicked the onset of a seismic event. One eyewitness, who had been seated inside the structure moments before it fell, recounted the sequence of events to reporters:
"We were sitting inside it when we suddenly heard a sound—like the rumble of an earthquake. We rushed out immediately; there was a lot of smoke and dust here. The entire building had collapsed."
The same witness reported hearing voices from within the debris in the minutes that followed:
"Sounds are still coming from within the rubble—children crying out, 'Save us, save us!'… There are at least 25–30 children."
Another resident nearby described the shaking as so violent that onlookers genuinely believed a major earthquake had struck the capital. Speaking to media, he recalled:
"The entire building shook as if it were at the epicentre of a major earthquake. We genuinely thought an earthquake had struck."
That same witness raised alarm about adjacent structures in the lane, warning that other PG buildings in the area appeared structurally compromised. He compared the row of ageing constructions to a line of dominoes, cautioning that if one unit had already failed, neighbouring ones could follow in quick succession. He also noted the human cost: students who had travelled long distances to study in Delhi were now paying for what he called faulty infrastructure.
Students and Families Await News at AIIMS Trauma Centre
Garv Vashist, a 22-year-old student at Delhi University, was waiting outside the AIIMS trauma centre on Sunday evening, hoping to learn whether his friend was among those pulled from the rubble. He estimated that roughly 50 to 60 students had been inside the collapsed building that afternoon.
"It was Sunday and was raining, so mostly all were inside. I rushed to the building, but after half an hour of failed attempts to locate my friend, I came to the hospital. All we know is that there are four people inside the trauma centre, but not sure if my friend is inside,"
Vashist's account underscores the uncertainty that hung over families and classmates in the hours after the collapse: with no confirmed casualty list available, every name remained a question mark.
Student Union Leader Says No Help Was Present When He Arrived
Vinod Jakhar, president of the National Students' Union of India (NSUI), the student wing of the Indian National Congress, said he learned of the collapse through a phone call from a colleague who was himself trapped inside the PG. By the time Jakhar and other union members reached the site, the structure had already come down entirely.
"We happened to be nearby when we received a call from an NSUI colleague saying that a fellow worker was trapped inside. A colleague of ours lived in that PG, and by the time we arrived, the entire building had collapsed… There was no one there to help, no police, no administration, no medical facilities, and no fire brigade… We started to clear the debris and rescue the students,"
His remarks drew attention to the gap between the moment of collapse and the arrival of formal emergency services—a gap filled, in this case, by students and neighbours working with bare hands.
Government Mobilises Multiple Agencies; CM Assures Families of Support
Delhi chief minister Rekha Gupta stated that several agencies were engaged in the rescue operation and pledged immediate assistance to affected families. In a post on X, she wrote:
"Deeply concerned by the building collapse incident at Satya Niketan, RK Puram."
Gupta confirmed that teams from the Delhi Disaster Management Authority (DDMA), the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), Delhi Fire Services, Delhi Police, the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD), the Centralised Accident and Trauma Services (CATS), and the Civil Defence were all deployed at the site.
Broader Context: Ageing PG Infrastructure in a Student-Dense City
Delhi's rapid expansion over the past two decades has produced a dense ecosystem of small, privately run PGs catering to university students who cannot afford independent flats. Many of these structures were erected decades ago, often without full compliance with current building codes, and have since accumulated wear, water damage, and incremental structural stress. The Satya Niketan area, situated in the RK Puram sector of south Delhi, sits close to several major educational institutions, making it a magnet for student housing demand. When a building of that type fails, the casualty count tends to be high because dozens of young residents are concentrated in a single structure, often sleeping or studying indoors during evening hours.
The collapse on Sunday afternoon—occurring during a rainy Sunday when most occupants were inside—highlighted how weather, occupancy patterns, and structural age can converge into a single catastrophic event. As rescue operations continued into the evening, the question for families, students, and municipal authorities alike was not only how many lives could still be saved from beneath the rubble, but how many similar structures across the city remain standing on foundations that have quietly weakened over years of neglect.
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