New Delhi, July 12 - Inderjit Taneja thought an earthquake had struck when he heard an ear-splitting 'crack' sound early Sunday morning and rushed out of his house in panic. It was the sound of the crashing down of a huge iron and concrete structure, part of the Delhi Metro's new route being constructed near his home in south Delhi's Vikram Vihar.

'It felt like an earthquake had hit us. I came out and saw that the bridge had collapsed and there was commotion all around. People were trying to rescue those trapped under the debris,' Taneja told IANS.

Taneja joined in the rescue operations at the Metro construction site in Zamrudpur near Lady Shri Ram College. Five people were killed and 15 others injured when an underconstruction Metro bridge collapsed at around 5 a.m.

'There were two policemen and together we managed to remove six injured people from the debris,' he said.

Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) officials said the accident occurred when a launching girder for a segment of the bridge lost balance.

'It was both scary and dangerous - people were badly injured, their faces distorted... Blood and debris was all over,' Taneja said.

Seema Gupta, a housewife in Vikram Vihar, was asleep when she heard the loud noise.

'There was a sudden jolt. We could not understand what happened. We thought it was an earthquake - many rushed out and we went to the balcony to see - but nothing was clear. At around 6 a.m. or 7 a.m. we saw the news on TV and came down to see what happened,' Seema said. Her house is around 200 metres from the site.

Jaideep, a 24-year-old residing nearby, had gone for his early morning jog in a park some 50 meters away from the site.