Three students, who were trapped for over four hours after the basement of a building housing a popular coaching centre was flooded following heavy rain in central Delhi's Old Rajinder Nagar area, have died. The bodies of the three civil services aspirants, two female and a male, were retrieved from the basement of Rau's IAS Study Circle during the rescue operation by the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), local police, and fire department, officials said. 


According to the Delhi Fire Department (DFS), a call about waterlogging was received from the coaching centre at around 7 pm on Saturday about students being stuck in the coaching's basement, which was flooded following a heavy downpour. 






"The caller told us that there was a possibility that some people were trapped. We are investigating how the entire basement was flooded. It appeared that the basement got flooded very fast due to which some people were trapped inside," DCP (Central Delhi) M Harshavardhan said, as per a report by news agency PTI.


A fire department official said that a total of five tenders were rushed to the site. The basement was full of water when they arrived. The rescue operation continued past midnight. 


The bodies of two female students were pulled out hours after the search for them began, however, the body of the third student, a male, was recovered later into the night. The identities of the deceased were not revealed by the authorities.  


Probe Ordered


Revenue Minister Atishi directed Chief Secretary Naresh Kumar to initiate an inquiry and submit a report within 24 hours on the incident.


A magisterial inquiry has been ordered to investigate how this incident happened. Whoever is responsible for this incident will not be spared, Atishi posted on X.


FIR Filed


Preliminary investigation suggests that the basement housed a library where several students were present. Water suddenly started flooding the basement. Ropes were used to evacuate the trapped students, the officials said.


The furniture in the coaching centre started floating when it was flooded and this created obstruction in the rescue operation, a police officer said. 


DCP Central M Harshavardhan said, "We have registered a criminal case. Our forensic teams are here... The process of collecting forensic evidence is underway. We are committed to the fact that we should have a proper investigation... We are committed to registering a strong case and finding out the truth. Two people have been detained so far."






Students Hold Protest


Students held a protest over the deaths of the civil services aspirants, raising slogans against authorities. 


"80 per cent of libraries here are in basements. Water gets logged here in 10 minutes of rainfall. MCD has not taken action on this," a student, protesting against the MCD, told the news agency ANI. 






On Minister Atishi's order for a magisterial inquiry, another protesting student said, "There is no one to take the responsibility. We want someone from the government to come here and take responsibility for all the students who have lost their lives. How are they improving anyone's future by making a tweet or writing a letter from their AC rooms?"






BJP Slams AAP Govt


Delhi BJP chief Virendra Sachdeva and New Delhi MP Bansuri Swaraj visited the site and blamed the AAP administration for the incident, saying the local MLA had ignored repeated appeals by locals to get the drains cleaned. 


"Delhi Government's criminal negligence is responsible for this mishap. Jal Board Minister Atishi and local MLA Durgesh Pathak should take responsibility and resign," Sachdeva said. 


Swaraj said that divers had to be called to rescue the students. "For the past week, locals were urging AAP MLA Durgesh Pathak to get the drain here cleaned. However, Durgesh Pathak didn't listen to them. Arvind Kejriwal, Durgesh Pathak and the AAP government are entirely responsible for this incident," she said.