Three students died after the basement of a building housing a popular coaching centre was flooded following heavy rain in central Delhi's Old Rajinder Nagar area.
The bodies of the three civil services aspirants, two female and a male, were retrieved from the basement of Rau's IAS Study Circle during the rescue operation by the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), local police, and fire department, officials said.
According to the Delhi Fire Department (DFS), a call about waterlogging was received from the coaching centre at around 7 pm on Saturday about students being trapped inside the coaching's basement, which was flooded following a heavy downpour.
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#BreakingNews: राष्ट्रीय राजधानी दिल्ली के राजेंद्र नगर में एक कोचिंग संस्थान के बेसमेंट में पानी भरा, NDRF की टीम मौके पर मौजूद
"The caller told us that there was a possibility that some people were trapped. We are investigating how the entire basement was flooded. It appeared that the basement got flooded very fast due to which some people were trapped inside," DCP (Central Delhi) M Harshavardhan said, as per a report by news agency PTI.
An FIR was registered in the incident.
Delhi Water Minister Atishi assured that “whoever is responsible for the incident will not be spared”.
“There is news of an accident due to heavy rain in Delhi in the evening. There is news of water filling in the basement of a coaching institute in Rajendra Nagar. Delhi Fire Department and NDRF are on the spot. Delhi Mayor and local MLA are also there. I am taking updates of the incident every minute. A magistrate has been ordered to investigate how this incident happened. Whoever is responsible for this incident will not be spared…” she wrote in an X post.
BJP MP Bansuri Swaraj hit out at Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and Rajender Nagar MLA Durgesh Pathak saying “they did not listen to requests of the local people to get the drainage systems cleaned”.
“There are still 2.5 feet of waterlogged on the street… Arvind Kejriwal and Durgesh Pathak are responsible for the deaths…” she said.