Delhi coaching centre deaths: Rescue divers came two hours after the incident, survivors recount

by Kushan Niyogi/Saurav Gupta

Thirty-five students were caught unawares as a flood of water gushed inside the basement library of an IAS coaching centre on July 27. Out of the 35, three were declared dead while another 17 were admitted to Ram Manohar Lohia hospital. 

Some of the survivors spoke to Patriot and narrated their experience of their escape and rescue. 

Jaideep, one of the survivors, highlighted that he had lost consciousness and was taken to the hospital. 

“We were all inside studying when trickles of water began entering the basement and then it became a sudden gush. I struggled for some time but then I lost consciousness when the (water) level increased and I had exhausted whatever breath I had left. I was rescued in the nick of time,” he said. 

Hridesh Chauhan, another student from Rau’s IAS Study Circle, said that the entire experience had shaken him to the core. 

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“I was just sitting and going through my notes when someone barged inside and demanded that we leave, warning us of water entering the basement. Since the flow then was softer, we hastily tried getting all of our things together like laptops, chargers, mobile phones, books and notebooks. But, within a few minutes the gush became too strong and the entire basement filled up with water. I managed to escape. Normally, water enters the library every time it rains and it happens every year, but because the gate to the basement broke, it got flooded,” he said. 

He further added that he also fell down the stairs of the library while escaping. 

“I fell from the stairs while trying to escape from the library towards the exit. I survived with a bit of luck, I still do not know how but it happened, however, around 10 people were still stuck inside and it was nerve-wracking. I will not look upon this experience fondly ever,” he said. 

A student from Trivandrum said on the condition of anonymity that they had warned the authorities of such an incident being just a monsoon away. 

“The fact is that the sewage pipe keeps breaking any time the rainfall exceeds, however, amount it can withstand which is clearly not enough. As it is, Delhi experiences such amounts of waterlogging across the board, no matter where one is. If a prime location like Connaught Place can experience waterlogging, I do not know why the authorities have to take the situation here without any seriousness.” 

He added that he was also inside the basement but escaped in the early minutes since he was not carrying as much stationery with him. 

“I was one of the first to escape when it had not yet flooded since I was not carrying much with me. I did not think that it would flood the entire library,” he said.

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Ashwariya Rai, a 30-year-old aspirant, also found herself stumped with fear as she saw one of her fellow aspirants slip and fall on the stairs while they were trying to escape from the stairs. 

“The entire room was filled with panic as we tried to escape. Nobody had ever seen such a situation unfold in front of us. I had to swim to a degree to escape, it was not as simple as wading through water. At around 7 pm, a few minutes after the pipeline burst, the caretaker told us to form a human chain and head for the exit, but it was impossible to follow his directions as everyone started running here and there. It was a confusing moment, and deeply disturbing,” she said.

Mohini Yadav, an aspirant from Budaun in Uttar Pradesh, said that it was a strange experience as she tried getting one of her friends out of the basement. 

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“I barely got my friend out. She was breathing very softly and had to be given CPR. She was visibly shaken by the incident . The experience has deeply traumatised her but I am certain that she will recover. However, the ones who died they did not have to. If only the rescue divers had come earlier, they could have been easily saved. They arrived at 9:15 pm while the pipe burst and the basement was flooded at around 7:15 pm. They died in vain, and their parents will only be given a paltry sum for their children’s lives,” said Mohini.