Three UPSC aspirants died after they were trapped in the basement of a popular coaching centre in Central Delhi late last evening, triggering massive protests.
The victims have been identified as Tania Soni, Shreya Yadav — both aged 25 — and Navin Delvin, 28. While Tania was from Telangana and Shreya from Uttar Pradesh, Navin was a resident of Kerala.
Shreya Yadav – the eldest among three siblings – had come to the national capital to prepare for civil services in April. His father runs a dairy shop in Uttar Pradesh and his two younger brothers are in school.
His uncle Dharmendra Yadav resides in Ghaziabad. Shubhang was the first person in the family who found out about the tragedy that occured late last evening at the Rau's IAS Study Circle in Old Rajinder Nagar.
"I found out about the incident after I watched news on television. I tried calling Shreya but couldn't speak to her," Mr Yadav said.
""I received no information officially, either from the coaching institute or administration. I saw the news and approached them, I went to the mortuary and asked them to show me the face for identification but they denied it, saying it was a police case. They showed me a paper where her (Shreya Yadav) name was written," he said.
Hundreds of students and locals in the area gathered outside the Rau's IAS Study Circle in Old Rajinder Nagar this morning demanding action against the coaching centre and authorities for negligence that claimed the lives of three students.
Officials said a drain had exploded, leading to the flooding in the basement.
Visuals from Rajendra Nagar showed the basement of Rau's IAS Study Circle completely flooded.
Fire brigade officials said they received a call about students being stuck in the basement at 7.19 pm last evening and five fire engines were dispatched to assist in rescue operations. Teams from the National Disaster Response Force also assisted in the rescue operation,.
The bodies of Tania and Shreya were pulled out hours after the rescue operation began. Navin's body was recovered later into the night.