New Delhi: A series of desperate phone calls, frantic messages and harrowing videos sent from the dark depths of the debris marked Sunday’s gruelling race to save several students trapped inside the collapsed building.For Abhyuday Pratap, the disaster unfolded in a rapid, nightmarish blur. Moments after navigating the immediate chaos to drop off one injured brother at the hospital, his world was shattered by a second crisis. He received a desperate video message sent directly from inside the rubble by his younger brother, Aditya, a student at Atma Ram Sanatan Dharma College.“One brother handed his phone to me through the debris. It took more than two and a half hours to pull him out and take him to the hospital, and then I received this video from Aditya,” Pratap said. Aditya was later extricated from the wreckage and moved to AIIMS, where he is currently undergoing treatment.The collapse triggered panic among the local student community. Tanmay Sanwal (19) rushed to the site with friends after learning that their former paying guest (PG) accommodation had caved in. They were looking for Neeraj Bawa, a BA political science student at Motilal Nehru College.Bawa, a native of Jammu who had returned to Delhi just days prior after celebrating Raksha Bandhan with his family, was pulled from the wreckage with injuries below his waist. He was subsequently admitted to AIIMS Trauma Centre.The disaster also trapped Arpit Jaj, a student who had arrived from Dewas, Madhya Pradesh, only hours before the structure gave way. “He had just returned to Delhi Sunday morning after travelling home to celebrate Raksha Bandhan,” his uncle, Saurabh Mishra, said while waiting for updates at AIIMS Trauma Centre.According to Jaj’s friends, he had recently expressed frustration over the dismal state of the building, frequently complaining about severe seepage and dampness on his room’s walls.For many, escaping the deteriorating structure had been financially impossible because of compulsory tenancy agreements. Krish, a childhood friend of Abhishek, a BCom student at Motilal Nehru College from Varanasi who was trapped inside, highlighted these structural issues. “Abhishek was stuck in a rigid 11-month contract that PG owners force everyone to sign,” Krish said. “Otherwise, the living conditions inside were so bad that he would have left a long time ago.”The extent of tragedy drew local student groups to coordinate at nearby medical facilities. “Vineet, one of my friends, has been admitted to RR Hospital in Dhaula Kuan,” said ABVP worker Alok Atri. “Five others have also been admitted at AIIMS. I have not been able to meet them yet.”Medical authorities confirmed varying degrees of injuries among the rescued victims. An unidentified 19-year-old student extricated from the rubble was rushed to VMMC & Safdarjung Hospital at 3.05 pm. Attending doctors reported that the patient was clinically stable, suffering primarily from minor injuries, including scalp abrasions, swelling over the right knee and a small elbow wound.
