AT least three people have been killed and several others are feared trapped after a building collapsed onto another structure in the suburb of the capital, New Delhi, officials said.

“There were at least three families living in the old building that collapsed upon an under-construction building,” Arun Kumar Singh, chief fire officer, told Al Jazeera yesterday.

“We have dragged out three dead bodies from the debris,” he added. “It’s very difficult to say at the moment how many people are actually trapped under the rubble.”

The National Disaster Response Force, a federal rescue agency, along with the police began the search and rescue operation Tuesday night, with officials saying that it would take several hours to clear the debris.

As the operation continued yesterday, more than 100 emergency workers used cranes, sledgehammers and chain saws to sift through the damage in Greater Noida’s Shahberi village, nearly 40 kilometers east of New Delhi.

Drills were being used to remove metal rods to reach those trapped, and a dog squad was at the site smelling for signs of life.

(SD-Agencies)