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61 killed, 80 injured in Delhi building collapse

NEW DELHI: The toll in the East Delhi collapse mounted to 61 this morning even as scores of rescue workers were working to pull out people trapped inside the debris of the structure, PTI reported. The 15-year-old four-storey building in busy Lalita Park area of Laxmi Nagar, which had an illegal fifth floor under construction, came crashing down around 8.15 pm on Monday. Families of around 10 migrant labourers were believed to be staying in the building owned by a businessman. The death toll may go up. "Till now 61 people have been killed in the incident," Delhi health minister Kiran Walia said. Walia said the foundation of the old building could have weakened due to the heavy rains in monsoon when water of the Yamuna river flooded the area. Rescue workers from NDRF, fire department, police, civil defence and locals had worked overnight to remove tons of concrete from the spot and find trapped people. The building is suspected to have weakened due to the heavy rains in monsoon when water of the Yamuna river flooded the area. A magisterial inquiry has been ordered into the incident, Delhi government officials said. A disaster management team has been deployed to help in rescue effort which has been going on through the night. Locals said some water was still there in the basement of the building. They also claimed that construction of an extra floor was going on when the incident took place. A magisterial inquiry has been ordered into the incident, Delhi government officials said. Huge mounds of concrete slabs and rubble were seen all around as rescuers, helped by the local residents, faced a tough task extricating people from under the debris. Eyewitnesses said they heard shouts for help from under the debris. Locals complained that power cut and absence of cranes hampered the rescue efforts initially. "The scale of the tragedy is unprecedented. I don't think such a tragedy has taken place in Delhi in the recent past," Delhi chief minister Sheila Dikshit said. She said it seems to be a "case of negligence" as the accumulated water in the basement for more than two months since the monsoon was not removed. She said it will have to be inquired if it was an unauthorised construction and that appropriate action will be taken if any wrongdoing is found. Civic officials speaking on condition of anonymity did not to rule out the possibility that the upper floor could have been illegal. MCD works committee chairman Jagdish Mamgain said, "We will have to look into the issue. On Saturday MCD demolished illegal floors of a multi-storeyed building in Mahavir Enclave. This is a recurrent problem." Asked if MCD is to be blamed for the incident as the issue of illegal construction is coming to the fore, Dikshit said "MCD gives no-objection certificate to a building for occupation. All these issues will have to be looked into during the inquiry."

                                                                                                               
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