New Delhi:
Six members of a family, including three women, were killed in the Capital early on Wednesday morning when their three-storeyed residence which was damaged in the torrential rains collapsed.
The building, owned by 61-year-old Hashmi Begum in north-east Delhi's Brahmpuri near Usmanpur, collapsed at around 4:20 am and the six persons who were sleeping inside the building were buried under the debris.
Besides Begum, a senior police official said, her three sons - Mohdammad Nafees (27), Mohammad Nadeem (25) and Mohammad Azeem (23) - and two daughters-in-law - Shagufta (25) and Ayesha (24) - also died in the incident.
The lone survivor from the family was Rubina (22), the wife of Azeem.
The building had developed cracks on Monday evening when heavy rain lashed the city, the official said. The victims' relatives said they were due to vacate the premises for repairs early Wednesday morning.
The family owns a brass manufacturing and polishing unit in north Delhi's Farsh Khana. They had moved into the house in December last year.
The first floor of the building was constructed and been in use since 1975. Begum had got the two storeys constructed for his sons and their wives after they got married in December 2009, the official said.
A dhaba owner and a mechanic who were operating from the family's ground-floor had vacated their shops on Tuesday evening and Begum and others were to move out today, a local said.
The family had got their house surveyed by a local mason yesterday afternoon.
"The mason had told them to vacate the house for some days." There was a crack in the foundation which he said had got corroded due to water seepage from a local drain running below the house.