Portion of landmark Connaught Place structure collapses

New Delhi: A portion of a Connaught Place building near the iconic Jain Book Depot collapsed on Thursday, raising concerns about the safety of buildings in the early 20th century shopping hub of the capital that is counted among the top heritage structures in New Delhi. The incident took place early on Thursday morning on the first floor of a C-Block structure above the popular book depot in the inner circle where a wall and the roof caved in, a Delhi fire officer said. There were no injuries as the structure had been lying vacant for a long time, said the officer. "No one was present inside the collapsed structure. Some walls and floors of the building have also been damaged in the collapse."