Satya Niketan building housing boys’ PG collapses; 3 students dead, several trapped

A five-storey building housing a boys’ PG collapsed in south Delhi's Satya Niketan area on Sunday (September 6) afternoon, killing at least three students and trapping multiple people, including students and labourers, under the debris. The building was reportedly around 40-50 years old and known as Hostel Daze.

The Delhi Fire Service reportedly received a distress call around 1.33 pm regarding a house collapse near Nanakpura Gurdwara in Satya Niketan, Moti Bagh. Eight fire tenders and multiple rescue teams of various departments have rushed to the spot.

Locals suspect that more than 30 to 50 people may be trapped under the rubble, but this figure has not been officially confirmed. The building's basement was reportedly being repaired when the entire structure collapsed. Locals claimed that collection of water over days of rain in the basement had weakened the building's foundation, eventually leading to its collapse.

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Firefighters reportedly rescued eight people from the rubble and rushed them to the AIIMS Trauma Centre. Of them, two were declared dead at the hospital; one died during treatment; five are critical, and one rescuer who received injuries was discharged.

Two NDRF teams comprising 70 personnel and a canine squad have been deployed to look for signs of life. One student made a video of himself stuck under the rubble while some others reportedly made distress calls. Oxygen cylinders have been dropped under the rubble for those stuck to breathe. Fire tenders have been stationed at the site.

Student accommodation hub

Satya Niketan is a heavily populated locality that serves as a major hub for student accommodations and hostels due to its close proximity to colleges in Delhi University’s South Campus. The area is marked by narrow, congested bylanes lined with eateries and PG accommodations catering mainly to students. Many have raised concerns regarding student safety following the incident.

“This is a deeply tragic incident. Students come here from various places to study and stay in PG accommodation in this building. While it is difficult to state the exact number, we know for certain that students are trapped inside. Two students have already been rescued by the NDRF, MCD. Some students are even making calls from within, and it appears there are still others trapped inside, so rescue efforts are ongoing,” BJP MLA Anil Sharma told news agency ANI early on after the tragedy.

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“The chief minister has dispatched a full team here. The entire government is deeply concerned and focused on ensuring the students are rescued—that is our primary objective,” he added.

Adjacent building vacated

Delhi CM Rekha Gupta tweeted, “Deeply concerned by the building collapse incident at Satya Niketan, RK Puram. Teams from DDMA, NDRF, Delhi Fire Services, Delhi Police, MCD, CATS and Civil Defence are carrying out rescue operations on a war footing. The adjacent building has been vacated as a precautionary measure. Every possible effort is being made to safely rescue those trapped and provide immediate assistance to the affected families….”

Gupta, Lieutenant Governor Taranjeet Singh Sandhu, Police Commissioner Anurag Kumar, and MP Bansuri Swaraj rushed to the spot after the incident. Union Home Minister Amit Shah expressed grief at the deaths. He said he spoke to the chief minister, the police commissioner, and the NDMA director general for an assessment of the situation on the ground. “The injured are being with all necessary medical assistance. Praying for the speedy recovery of all those injured,” he wrote on X.

Eight fire tenders, alongside Delhi Police and emergency personnel, are on site. Police teams have cordoned off the area as emergency personnel carry out a search-and-rescue operation. Paramilitary has been deployed to ensure unobstructed movement of ambulances.

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While police are repeatedly advising locals and onlookers to stay away from the site, eyewitnesses said they immediately joined the rescue efforts using their bare hands and available equipment to remove debris in search of individuals trapped underneath. Visuals from the site showed a young man trapped under a wall, with his head and face partially visible, and officials trying to remove it to rescue the person.

Witness claims bodies found

An eyewitness told ANI, “I have a shop nearby. We were sitting inside it when we suddenly heard a rumble, like that of an earthquake. We rushed out immediately; there was a lot of smoke and dust here. The entire building had collapsed. Some bodies were found, and they also rescued four students who were still breathing.”

“The sound of human voices is still coming from within the rubble—students are crying out, ‘Save us, save us’... There are at least 25–30 students. There was a boys’ PG and a girls’ PG here nearby,” the witness added.

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He claimed a basement was being constructed when the building collapsed. “They had reinforced the upper structure, but the pillars at the bottom were weak. They were renovating the building—specifically to create a rental space on the ground floor—and that caused the collapse. Labourers were working down below and got buried,” he claimed.

Rs 12,000 per bed

Another witness commented that the incident could have been much worse had it occurred on a working day since many students from nearby areas had returned home. “The hostel was always full. So, many people could still be trapped under the debris. The lanes are very congested, so it was difficult for rescue vehicles to arrive at the scene faster,” another said.

Rajen Chhetri, a local who works with the Delhi Police, said the building housed around 15 rooms, with two to three students sharing each room. “Most of the students staying here are from Keralam, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh and study mainly at Motilal Nehru College, Atma Ram Sanatan Dharm College and Sri Venkateswara College. They were paying around Rs 12,000 per bed,” Chhetri said.

“I have been living here for the last 20 years. Some construction work was going on in the basement, where water had started accumulating. The foundation was also extremely weak,” he said, adding that around 13 people had been rescued.

Owners missing, no maintenance

Priyanka, a local living in the area for the past 20-22 years, said, “Buildings here are being constructed up to five-six floors. Many houses have been converted into boys’ PGs, with the owners shifting elsewhere. They simply name the properties as PGs, take the rent online and leave the area without even checking back.”

“The PG that collapsed is over 20 years old, and in all these years, I have not seen any maintenance being carried out. The whole of Satya Niketan is full of PGs. Hardly 30 per cent of the house owners actually live here,” she said.

“Even the gutters and sewers here are open. There were many students trapped inside the building. Since it was raining, most of them were in their rooms, while some had gone home as it was the weekend,” Priyanka said.

The collapse reportedly followed recent heavy rainfall in the national capital. As of now, the Delhi Police have not issued a statement regarding the incident or the circumstances that led to the collapse. They have reportedly identified the building's owner and formed seven to eight teams to trace him. The process to register an FIR is underway.

(With agency inputs)