At least 65 people were killed and 80 more were injured after a multi-storey building
collapsed in New Delhi late last night. The 15-year-old building housing about 200
people – mostly migrant workers and their families – collapsed yesterday evening in
New Delhi's congested Lalita Park area. About 30 people are believed still trapped
under the rubble.
We spoke to Fr. Dominic Emmanuel, spokesman for the Delhi
Catholic Archdiocese says that poor construction material and inadequate foundations
are often to blame for building collapses in India.
“People are so desperate
to find a roof over their head that they don’t bother about the engineering defects
or what is required”, he said. Asked whether the most recent disaster would force
a change in building standards, he says “once in a while, these things happen, there
will be a lot of noise about it, and then they will go back to their old ways.”