Lodhi Crematorium wall collapse: As a labourer dies, a family loses its home

2 min readJun 6, 2026 10:19 AM IST

A wall collapse at Delhi’s Lodhi Crematorium during rainwater drain and sewage line construction killed a labourer, injured two others, and destroyed the home of a family living inside the complex. (Express Photo)

Written by Mishal Mussaddique

Hours after a boundary wall and an adjoining storage room collapsed during rainwater drain and sewage line construction work at Lodhi Crematorium in Lodhi Colony, killing one labourer, Rahul Kharwan was seen searching through the rubble for his family’s belongings. A worker at the ritual supplies and memorial keepsakes shop at the crematorium, he lived in a one-room home – now completely damaged – inside the complex with his wife and children.

Early morning, a 55-year-old labourer was killed and two others injured after the boundary wall and the storage room collapsed at 1.08 am when excavation and pipe-laying work was being carried out by the PWD using a JCB and a Hydra machine, DCP (Southeast) Hemant Tiwari said.

Three PWD labourers got trapped under the debris, said DCP II Jasbir Singh. Among them, while a person identified as Devendra was declared dead at AIIMS Trauma Centre, other labourers – Rajesh (48) and Umar (20) – are under treatment, said police.

Police, fire department and ambulance personnel carried out a joint rescue operation before securing the site.

For 67-year-old Bhagwan Das, a security guard at the crematorium, the sounds of the collapse remain vivid. Das had been staying at Rahul’s quarters while the latter was away.

“Every day, after 9 pm, excavation work had been happening for the past week,” Das said.

“I heard a loud noise and screams. I woke up abruptly to find that an entire wall had disappeared and people were trapped under the debris,” he said.

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Rahul, meanwhile, who had just returned from Gorakhpur, emerged carrying a few utensils and a child’s bicycle – remnants of the home his family had occupied for five years.