A night of terror engulfed Jaipur on Friday, 5 September, as a crumbling four-storey mansion near Subhash Chowk Circle collapsed, swallowing its residents beneath a mountain of rubble and leaving the city shaken by the devastating loss.

Amid the chaos, a father and his six-year-old daughter lost their lives, while five others were rushed to hospital, highlighting the deadly consequences of neglected, aging structures in the city’s old quarters.

The tragedy occurred around midnight, burying seven people under the debris. Rescue teams managed to pull all seven out, but Prabhat (33) and his daughter Pihu (6) died, while his wife Sunita (25) sustained serious injuries. The family was rescued Saturday morning.

Four others — Vasudev (34), his wife Sukanya (23), and their sons Sonu (4) and Rishi (6) — were rescued during the night and admitted to SMS Hospital.

Local residents said the mansion, constructed with old lime, had been in a dilapidated state and weakened further by intermittent rains. The building housed over 20 tenants, mostly migrant workers from West Bengal.

Civil defense and SDRF teams carried out rescue operations through the night until 7 am, with senior officials, including ACP Manak Chowk Piyush Kaviya, Ramganj SHO Subhash Kumar, and Subhash Chowk SHO Likhmaram, present on site.

Eyewitnesses described the collapse as sudden and thunderous. Sanjay, a tenant, said, “The back portion gave way first, then everything came down.” Saptami added that her sister Sukanya survived despite being trapped. Sonka, an elderly tenant, recalled attempts to warn others before the building fell.

Authorities evacuated nearby houses as a precaution. Officials confirmed at least five other structures in Subhash Chowk are similarly fragile, posing serious risks during heavy rains.

MLA Amin Kagzi criticised the authorities for negligence, noting that he had previously alerted officials about the danger posed by dilapidated houses in the old city but no action was taken. He warned that without urgent intervention, other weak structures could collapse in the ongoing monsoon.

With IANS inputs