Chawri Bazar Building Collapse: Toll Reaches 7, Owner and 3 Contractors Held

Seven people have died in the collapse of an under-construction building at Chawri Bazar in Old Delhi, after another body was pulled out on Sunday, 8 November, more than 70 hours into the rescue, according to a PTI report carried by The Tribune. The three-storey structure came down at about 9:45 am on Thursday, 5 November, while labourers were laying the slab on the third floor. Delhi Police have arrested the owner and three contractors, and the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) says no building plan was ever sanctioned for it.

Who Was Inside and What Police Found

Police identified the dead as Sanjeet Kumar, Kishori Sah, Pankaj Sharma, Vipin Ram, Shantu, Dinesh Sah and Luchhuman Mukhiya. Four of them were from Bihar; Vipin Ram lived in Mandawali, east Delhi. Early reports on 6 November counted two dead and two injured, with four people pulled out alive. NDRF and fire service teams have kept working through the debris in the narrow lanes near Chawri Bazar Metro station, where Diwali shoppers crowd the area.

DCP Central Rohit Rajbir Singh told reporters that unauthorised construction was going on and that a letter had already gone to the municipal agencies, but work had not been stopped. An FIR was registered at Hauz Qazi police station under Section 105 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita. Three contractors were picked up from Sirohi village in Faridabad district on Friday.

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MCD Says Floors Were Added Under Cover of Repairs

MCD’s preliminary inquiry says the owner built fresh second and third floors in the name of repair work, without permission or notice to the corporation. It says the shuttering under the third-floor lintel was removed in a hurry and the lintel then gave way. The corporation has suspended a junior engineer and an assistant engineer, started a survey of neighbouring buildings and ordered structural safety audits by empanelled engineers.

The record shows earlier warnings. MCD sent the owner an advisory on 28 April 2026 about the building’s dilapidated condition, and a police tip led to an inspection on 15 June that found repair work under way. Chief Minister Rekha Gupta has ordered an inquiry and asked for immediate ex-gratia aid to the families; no amount has been announced.

What Is Still Open

The cause has not been formally established, and the inquiry has no stated deadline. Search teams have not said how many people may still be under the debris. The accused are in custody and the case is at the investigation stage. IPB will update this report when MCD or the police release the inquiry findings or the final toll. More Delhi reports are filed under the Delhi tag.

Source: Based on reporting by The Tribune (PTI), ThePrint and Outlook.

Image: PTI.