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- Dubai 04:25 05:43 12:19 15:46 18:50 20:09
Rescue workers clear rubble from a building which collapsed overnight November 15, in eastern New Delhi. Some 67 people were killed when a building that housed scores of migrant families collapsed in New Delhi, as rescuers searched through the rubble for survivors. (AFP)
Bulldozers in New Delhi cleared rubble on Wednesday from the site of a five-storey residential building that collapsed killing at least 67 people, as hopes of finding survivors faded.
Rescuers had scoured through the piles of concrete slabs and iron rods since Monday evening when the building, which housed scores of poor migrant families, crumpled to the ground.
The Hindustan Times reported that 20 people were still buried under the remains.
Blame for the disaster has focused on poor construction standards, water-logging from the nearby Yamuna river, and extra storeys being added illegally to the structure.
City authorities said they would inspect other apartment blocks in the district to assess whether more collapses were likely as many buildings did not meet safety regulations.
"We have taken our workers out. Only machines are active at the site now," Gulshan Rai Insan, from a volunteer group involved in the rescue work, told AFP.
"From last night we were only finding broken furniture and household goods. We weren't pulling out dead bodies. Now there is no hope of finding survivors."
Delhi police spokesman Rajan Bhagat said 67 people were confirmed dead, with an unknown number of people missing. About 100 were injured.
"We are removing debris now. We cannot speculate on the final death toll as the work is going on," he said.
The building had contained dozens of cramped, one-room flats rented by about 60 families from the states of West Bengal and Bihar, as well as some small businesses including a cloth exporting company and a food snacks group.
Newspapers said it had originally been a three-storey structure erected at least 15 years ago. A sixth floor was thought to have been under construction.
The owner of the building was arrested at a relative's house after reportedly sleeping in a park to avoid police. He has been charged with culpable homicide not amounting to murder.
Dunu Roy, director of the Delhi-based Hazards Centre campaign group, said many housing developments in the city failed safety standards.
"Most buildings lack final clearances from the regulatory authorities and the capacity of the government to regulate private builders is close to nil," he said.
Investigators will probe whether the building, located in a congested area of eastern Delhi, had been weakened by flooding after some of the strongest monsoon rains in decades.
After the collapse, many rescuers used sledgehammers to try to smash their way towards survivors, while others formed human chains to remove concrete piled on top of victims.
Emergency teams had trouble getting lifting gear and cranes through the narrow streets to the disaster scene.
Mohit Sarkar, 40, a vegetable vendor originally from Kolkata, had lived in the building for two years with his wife and four children.
"I was working when my niece called me and told me that the building had collapsed. I came home and found that my 12-year-old son was dead," he told AFP.
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