UPSC aspirants' death: What happened moments after rain water flooded coaching centre basement

Old Rajendra Nagar is a hub of coaching centres for civil services examinations conducted by the Union Public Service Commission.

After being trapped for over four hours, three civil services aspirants died when water suddenly entered the basement of their coaching centre in West Delhi.

The incident has claimed the lives of Shreya Yadav (from Uttar Pradesh), Nivin Dalwin (from Kerala), and Tanya Soni (from Telangana). According to FIR accessed by News 18, the owner of the Rau’s IAS Study Circle in Rajinder Nagar could not produce documents related to the functioning of the library on the underground floor. The owner, Abhishek Gupta, said there was no water drainage system in the basement, where the library was functional.

Here is what happened on Saturday evening.

6.35 pm: The gate to Rau’s IAS Study Circle broke and water gushed in after heavy rains led to waterlogging on the road in Delhi’s Old Rajinder Nagar.

6.45 pm:  The water accumulated in the basement of the building, which was housing 20-25 students at the moment.

7 pm: About 15 students had run out of the basement while security guards on the floor above cut power supply to prevent electrocution. By 7 pm, water had reached to the level of the road.

7.10 pm: ASI Birendra reached the spot immediately and the fire department officials received a call. “At 7 pm, we received a call regarding the flooding of a basement in the Old Rajinder Nagar area and that some people were trapped in it. As we are all aware, there were heavy rains in the area in the evening because of which there was a lot of waterlogging on the roads and adjoining buildings as well,” DCP Central M Harsha Vardhan told Indian Express describing the incident.

8.30 pm: Water was immediately pumped out from the basement. However, the National Disaster Response Force NDRF team was called as the rescuers needed divers to reach the students.

10:40 pm : The body of the first student, Shreya Yadav, was recovered at the level of six feet deep in the water.

11.10 pm: The body of the second victim, Tanya Soni, was taken out.

1 am: The body of the third victim, Nivin Dalwin, was found by the NDRF at around 1 am, news agency ANI reported Delhi police as saying.

Early on Sunday, the Delhi Police registered a criminal case once the search and rescue operations were complete. The Delhi Police also arrested the owner and the coordinator of the coaching centre - Rau's IAS Study Circle in Old Rajinder Nagar - and booked them for culpable homicide. They have been sent to 14-day judicial custody by a court.

Meanwhile, BJP leaders staged a protest near the AAP office in Delhi, demanding resignation of the Arvind Kejriwal government. Delhi BJP chief Virendra Sachdeva termed the deaths of three civil services aspirants at a coaching centre a "murder".