New Delhi, Apr 20 (PTI) The last rites of the victims of the building collapse in northeast Delhi, which included the owner of the four-storey structure, were carried out on Sunday.

Family, friends and neighbours of the victims attended the ceremony at the New Mustafabad graveyard after their bodies were handed over to the families in the afternoon.

The multi-storey residential building collapsed early Saturday morning in the Shakti Vihar area, killing 11 people — three of them children — and injuring as many.

Seven of the dead were from one family — owner of the building, Tehseen, and six from his family.

One of Tehseen’s sons — Aas Mohammad — had already died in the 2020 northeast Delhi riots.

Danish, a local, told PTI , “It’s a very sad atmosphere in the area. We are still very disturbed by the incident. We knew most of them and now they are no more. Most of the people from Tehseen’s family are dead. It is very unfortunate.” Others who died in the building collapse were Danish (23) and Naved (17), who were brothers, and Reshma (38) and Ishaq (75). The victims of the incident were mostly related to each other as the building mostly housed families — many of them tenants of Tehseen, who lived in the first floor.

Danish added, “We will also have to look at the reason why this has happened so that it doesn’t happen in the future. There are several buildings surrounding the spot where the collapsed building stood until two days back.

Meanwhile, authorities are trying to clear the remaining debris from the site and are also checking if any other buildings have any worrying damage.

“Two more buildings have suffered some damages because of the collapse. We are checking the extent of the damage,” an officer said.

It took 12 hours of effort by teams of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), Delhi Fire Services, police and locals to take out the 22 people caught in the rubble. Eleven of them survived and were sent for treatment.

A case has been registered under relevant sections of the BNS against the owner of the building on charges of negligence, among others. A police officer, however, said the case is likely to be closed after inquest proceedings or the investigation involving the main accused may shift its focus to the living co-accused or related circumstances.

Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta has also ordered a probe into the incident after expressed grief. PTI SSJ SKY SKY