India: Several feared trapped in Old Delhi building collapse

Two people were killed when a building under construction collapsed in Old Delhi’s Chawri Bazaar on Thursday morning, local media reported. A third person was pulled out injured.

The collapse happened in Gali Sitara, near Chawri Bazaar Metro station. The first alerts came around 10 a.m. local time. Six fire units were sent to the site, and it was initially unclear how many people had been inside.

The accident hit a crowded wholesale market amid the festive shopping rush. It comes two months after a building collapsed in the crowded Satya Niketan area frequented by college students, killing seven people.

All 11 people reported missing after two rescue boats capsized in a flooded lake in Telangana’s Khammam district have been found safe, officials said Thursday, according to local media.

“One person was rescued at around 2.15 am (local time), followed by four others at approximately 3 am. We subsequently located three more personnel, and they were brought to shore. The operation was suspended temporarily and was resumed at 5 am. In the next couple of hours, all the remaining stranded persons were rescued,” Khammam district fire officer Ajay Kumar told the Hindustan Times.

Those rescued include State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) personnel, fire services department members and a local resident.

The boats overturned Wednesday evening in the swollen Bethupalli lake near Sathupalli. The crews were reportedly trying to reach fishermen stranded by rising water after heavy rain. Strong currents flipped both SDRF boats.

Early accounts put the missing at 10, but later reports raised the figure to 11. Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy asked officials to step up efforts to bring the rescuers back safely.

Hello again!

This is Seerat from DW’s Studio Delhi, back on another smoky day as the city’s air takes a hit ahead of Diwali.

Rescue operations have been kicked off as news of a three-story building collapsing in Old Delhi’s Chawri Bazaar comes in.

Meanwhile, all 11 people who went missing after a boat capsized during a rescue operation in the southern state of Telangana have been found safely, local media reported.

Finally, the big-budget film adaptation of the Ramayana, one of Hinduism’s most popular epics, is hitting the screens today, but not without its share of controversy.

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