Delhi: 2 civil service aspirants die, 1 missing at Rao IAS Coaching centre's flooded basement

Initial reports indicate that students attending Rao IAS Coaching Institute at Old Rajendra Nagar went missing after the flooding. Later, the body of one female student was found.

The Delhi Fire Service, National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), and Delhi Police are conducting search and rescue operations at the scene.

"Basement of a coaching institute in the national capital filled with water. NDRF teams are at the spot," Delhi Police was quoted as saying on India Today.

The fire department received a distress call at around 7 pm, prompting an immediate response, according to the report.

Efforts to contact the missing students through their mobile numbers have been unsuccessful, as their phones are not reachable.

Search teams are thoroughly scanning the basement of the coaching centre to locate the missing students.

Meanwhile, Delhi BJP MP Bansuri Swaraj and MCD Mayor Shelly Oberoi have reached the site to inspect the rescue operations.

"A rescue operation was launched in Old Rajender Nagar, Delhi, following reports of children trapped in a waterlogged basement at 11-B, Bada Bazaar Marg, near Rao IAS Study Center," sources were quoted as saying by India Today.

According to the report, the fire department has pressed in four motor pumps to extract the water.

Five fire tenders have been deployed at the site to assist with the rescue operation. Officials stated that the waterlogging is expected to be cleared within the next few hours.

"There is news of water filling in the basement of a coaching institute in Rajendra Nagar. Delhi Fire Department and NDRF are on the spot. Delhi Mayor and local MLA are also there. I am taking updates of the incident every minute. A magistrate has been ordered to investigate how this incident happened. Whoever is responsible for this incident will not be spared," Atishi said in a post on X.

Central Delhi DCP M Harshavardhan said police are investigating how the entire basement got flooded.