Three UPSC aspirants drowned in a flooded coaching center basement in Delhi, raising concerns over delayed emergency response and safety.
New Delhi, 29 July 2024
Following heavy rainfall on Saturday evening, the basement of the coaching center in Old Rajinder Nagar, central Delhi, flooded, unfortunately killing three aspirants to the civil services. Eyewitness videos captured residents wading through knee-deep water on flooded roads, with vehicles submerged in the area.
One survivor of the incident shared harrowing videos showing water rapidly filling the basement, claiming that the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) and police responded late to the scene. It was around 6:40 pm. We called the police and NDMA, but they didn’t arrive until after 9 pm. By then, my three UPSC aspirant mates had lost their lives. Three others are hospitalized; please pray for them. Who cares about our lives?” the survivor wrote, sharing a chilling video from the scene. They expressed anguish, questioning who would bring justice for the victims and return them to their families.
https://x.com/Hirdesh79842767/status/1817350880154239106
The flooding incident began around 6:35 pm, when heavy rain caused the basement to fill rapidly. Emergency services were alerted shortly afterward, with fire department officials arriving at approximately 7:10 pm to begin pumping out the water. However, due to the flooding’s severity, divers from the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) were called in for assistance.
The bodies of two students were recovered late Saturday night, around 10:40 pm and 11:10 pm, respectively. The third body was found by NDRF divers early Sunday morning, around 1 am. The tragedy has raised serious concerns about emergency response times and the safety of basement coaching facilities in the area.
