New Delhi: The death toll in the Chawri Bazar building collapse rose to six Saturday after rescue teams found four more bodies under the debris of the under-construction structure.The deceased were identified as Vipin Ram (42), Pankaj Sharma (45), Shantu (35) and Dinesh Sah, all from Bihar’s Khagaria district. The bodies were shifted to LNJP Hospital for further proceedings.Meanwhile, the owner of the building, Saimullah, was arrested Saturday. All four accused, including three contractors, have been arrested, said police.Sharma, who had started coming to Delhi around 15 years ago in search of work, was the sole breadwinner for his family, which comprises his mother, wife and four children. The eldest of five brothers, Sharma had returned to Delhi four months ago to work at the construction site near Ajmeri Gate in Old Delhi.“He had told us that he would come home for Chhath Puja. Now he has left behind four young children. Govt should take the responsibility for their upbringing,” said his cousin, Shambhu Kumar.With the rescue operation stretching into the third day, relatives of those feared trapped waited outside the site, praying to find their loved ones alive. As the day progressed and more bodies were recovered from the rubble, they started losing hope. “My uncle could’ve been alive if they’d have done it faster,” rued Raja Kumar, the nephew of Vipin Ram, one of the deceased.According to locals, around 15 labourers were working at the site when the building collapsed at 9.48am Thursday. A joint rescue operation was launched involving Delhi Police, National Disaster Response Force, Delhi Fire Service and Municipal Corporation of Delhi. Six fire tenders were deployed at the spot, but heavy machineries, such as earthmovers, couldn’t enter the narrow lanes, and rescuers had to carry on manually with small equipment, slowing down the operation.Among the six people pulled out initially were two labourers, Kishori Sah (40) and Sanjeet (45), both from Bihar. They later succumbed to their injuries. Two others, Sahdev Chaudhary (25) and Firoz (37), were injured, but are out of danger.
