Delhi building collapse: Jammu student recalls fight for survival

Chib said he remained trapped for nearly one and a half hours before rescuers pulled him out.

Jammu: Nitish Chib was having breakfast with his friend at his PG facility in Delhi’s Satya Niketan on what he believed was just another laid-back Sunday. The next moment, however, the floor beneath him sank; walls and ceiling came crashing down, and he was trapped under the rubble, struggling to draw a breath.

Chib, the second-year B Com student, recounted the story of his ordeal—which lasted for about an hour and a half—and survival after the decades-old, five-storey boys’ hostel building collapsed in southwest Delhi on September 6, killing seven and injuring several others.

The survivor said he and his friend Neeraj, a resident of Kathua, were on the second floor of the building, in room no. 201, eating their breakfast.

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“There was no warning, and we had no idea that anything like this was going to happen. Suddenly, the entire building collapsed, and we got trapped underneath. We could hear each other but could not see each other,” he said.

Neeraj’s mobile phone became their lifeline at the time, with Chib using it to contact their seniors and share their location, following which a rescue operation was launched.

Chib said he remained trapped for nearly one and a half hours before rescuers pulled him out. He suffered injuries to his head, left shoulder and left leg and was subsequently shifted to hospital for treatment.

Neeraj was rescued later and remains critical, undergoing surgeries, though doctors have expressed hope that he will recover, according to Chib.

The commerce student says he moved to Delhi last August for his studies at Delhi University’s Motilal Nehru College. He said around nine to 10 students were staying in the building.

He said he was paying Rs 15,000 per month for his room on the second floor. Two students were staying in each room, making the combined rent around Rs 30,000, he said.

After being rescued, Nitish was initially taken to a nearby hospital and later shifted to another for treatment, where he was also visited by Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta.

Looking beyond his own narrow escape, Chib raised questions over the safety of PG accommodations and said stricter inspections could have averted the tragedy.

“If the government had earlier ordered that the PG buildings be checked and declared safe, this could have been prevented. What happened to us should not happen to anyone else,” he said.

Nitish said some of the students he knew have died in the incident.

“Some were first-year students. Among the second-year students, several have died. I do not know the exact number, but six to seven deaths have been reported from among those I knew, while some others are still critical,” he said.

Nitish’s mother, Sushma, said she rushed to Delhi after receiving a call informing her about the collapse of the PG building.

“We booked tickets and travelled in different flights so that the family members could reach him as quickly as possible,” she said, adding that she reached the hospital at around 9.30 pm on Sunday and found her son receiving treatment.

The mother said the situation became even more distressing after she saw other injured students and learnt that several students had died in the tragedy.