New Delhi:

He survived the Saturday tragedy at the coaching centre in Delhi but 21-year-old Rishabh Pal says he will forever feel guilty for not being able to save his fellow students including Tanya Soni who had spurred him not to give up hope when he feared that their end was near.

Rishabh, a resident of Ghaziabad, was among those 25-30 students who were trapped in the basement of the building on the July 27 evening, where Tanya, Shreya Yadav and Nevin Dalvin died due to flooding following rain.

“We were exactly in the library when the water started entering the building. About 10 to 12 students, who were near the gate, managed to rush out but about 10-15 of us got trapped due to the heavy flow of the water on the stairs,” Rishabh, a civil services aspirant from batch M33 at Rau’s Study Circle that started in June, told PTI.

Rishabh said they had lost hope and thought all of them would die.

“But Tanya, who was my batch mate, said there was no need to panic and we would be saved. She also said: ‘Let’s form a human chain’. We tried forming the chain but due to the flow of water we could not hold on,” he said.

“The water kept on entering, Tanya and Shreya stood on a table. I somehow mustered courage and started climbing the stairs, while the water kept gushing into the basement. Halfway along the stairs, a housekeeping staff extended his hand towards me and pulled me up,” Rishabh said.

“Behind me, my friend Jaideep and a few more came out. Then, the staff members of our institute brought a rope to pull the other who were stuck in the water,” he said.

Rishabh said Tanya and Shreya might not have moved towards the stairs as they may have been scared of the intensity of water gushing inside.

“I don’t know about Nevin as I did not notice him in the library. He might have been in the toilet at that point in time,” he said.

He said they had very little time to react as within 5-10 seconds, they were in knee-deep water and things took a turn for the worse after that “Nakul came out last and informed us that two more girls (Tanya and Shreya) were still there. In just three to four minutes, the over 13-ft-high library was filled with water,” he said.

Rishabh lives with his parents in Uttar Pradesh’s Ghaziabad. He has paid Rs 1.75 lakh fee for his one-year course at the institute. His father is employed in a private company while his elder brother works in an IT company in Noida.

He said all the staff members helped in rescuing the trapped students.

“Each staff member, including library wale uncle, helped us in saving the lives of the students. Had they not acted swiftly, the causalities would have been more,” he said.

Rishabh said there was no biometric in the basement of the building.

“I want to clarify that there was no biometric system at the basement or any part of the building,” he said, adding there were two entry and exit from the basement.

He also alleged a delay in response by the administration.

“The NDRF officials who came at about 10 pm told us that they could not do anything as they did not have any equipment,” he claimed.

“Maybe the basement of the institute was illegally constructed but all the faculty members who were present in the building helped us in the rescue,” he said.

As he was struggling to come out, Rishabh was injured by the shards of broken glass in the library. He was given first aid and taken to Ganga Ram Hospital for further treatment.

Rishabh said that he wishes for early justice for the victim and punishment for those responsible for the tragedy.

At the same, he says that he and other fellow students of the institute should not be affected as they have paid hefty fees for coaching.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

New Delhi:

Three students, who were trapped for over four hours after water suddenly entered a basement at a popular coaching centre in West Delhi, have died, police said.

Visuals from Rajendra Nagar showed the basement of Rau’s IAS Study Circle completely flooded on Saturday. Fire brigade officials said they received a call about students being stuck in the basement at 7.19 pm on Saturday and five fire engines were dispatched to assist in rescue operations. 

The bodies of two female students were pulled out hours after the rescue operation began. The body of the third student, a male, was recovered later into the night.

“The bodies have been sent to the hospital for further legal action. Rescue operations are still underway. The water is being pumped out. There is still about 7 feet of water in the basement… I request the student community to not come here and hamper the rescue services. We share their pain but coming here to the spot is not the solution. It will hamper the rescue services,” Deputy Commissioner Of Police (Central Delhi) M Harshavardhan said.

Delhi Fire chief Atul Garg said that rescue operations are still on to find anyone else suspected to be trapped in the basement. Earlier, he said reports suggested that only 3 students were trapped while 30 others had escaped the flooded basement.

#WATCH | Delhi: On the Old Rajender Nagar incident, DCP Central M Harshavardhan says, “… The bodies have been sent to the hospital for further legal action. Rescue operations are still underway. The water is being pumped out. There is still about 7 feet of water in the… pic.twitter.com/37un19ApIJ

— ANI (@ANI) July 27, 2024

The incident comes days after a UPSC aspirant was electrocuted while trying to cross a waterlogged street in Patel Nagar, which is also in West Delhi. 

In a post on X, Delhi Public Works Department Minister Atishi said the basement got flooded after heavy rain and the local AAP MLA, Durgesh Pathak has reached the coaching centre, and so has the mayor, Shelly Oberoi. 

“There is news of an accident due to heavy rain in Delhi in the evening. There is news of water flooding the basement of a coaching institute in Rajendra Nagar. The Delhi Fire Department and NDRF are at the spot. The Delhi Mayor and local MLA are also there. I am taking updates of the incident every minute,” she wrote in Hindi.  

The minister, who said in the post that anyone found guilty would not be spared, has also written to the Delhi chief secretary and asked him to ensure a magisterial inquiry is initiated immediately. She has sought a report within 24 hours. 

‘Avoidable Tragedy’

Hitting out at the AAP government, Bansuri Swaraj, BJP MP from the New Delhi Lok Sabha constituency, who also reached the coaching centre, said the tragedy could have been avoided.

“Dedicated workers from the BJP repeatedly asked Durgesh Pathak to ensure that the sewers in this area are cleaned and de-silted. If that had been done, this tragedy would not have happened. You can see there’s 2-3 foot of water on the road, which inundated the basement. People are saying divers had to go in, so you can imagine how bad the situation is. The AAP government, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and MLA Durgesh Pathak are responsible for the tragedy and the death,” she said.

Mr Pathak said a drain or sewer seemed to have exploded, leading to the flooding. On the BJP’s allegations, he said the party’s councillors were in power in the Municipal Corporation of Delhi for 15 years but did not get drains constructed. “This is not the time for politics. The focus now is on saving the students,” the MLA said.