Four killed, two injured, in fire at Delhi residential building

Four people, including a one-year-old girl, were killed while two others were injured after a fire broke out in a five-storey building in a congested neighbourhood at Ram Nagar near Mansarovar Park in northeast Delhi on Friday evening, the Delhi Police said.

Delhi Fire Services (DFS) chief Atul Garg said they received a call at 5.22pm regarding the blaze in a house in New Modern Shahdara where six people were trapped. Nearly 20 firefighters in five fire tenders were rushed to the spot to douse the flames and carry out the rescue operation.

The deceased were identified as Gauri Soni, 40, her 17-year-old son, Pratham Soni, Rachna Devi, 28, and her one-year-old daughter, Ruhi Kumar. The two people who were injured were identified as Radhika Kumar, 16, and Prabhawati Devi, 70, fire officials said. They added that all the deceased lived as tenants on the second and third floors.

“It took nearly three hours to douse the flames and rescue six people who were trapped inside. Some of them were found lying unconscious on the staircase of the building, suggesting that they had attempted to escape through the lower floors and the terrace. The gate leading to the terrace on the top floor was open,” said Deepak Hooda, assistant divisional officer of DFS.

According to Garg, the ground floor of the building was a storage area for wipers, rubber materials and cutting machines, where the fire appears to have started. “A total of six people, including a child, were rushed to a nearby hospital in CATS ambulance and police vans,” he added.

Deputy commissioner of police (Shahdara) Surender Choudhary said the police control room was informed about the fire, after which the station house officer of Mansarovar Park police station and staff rushed to the spot. Police rescued three people with the help of the public.

“Firefighters also arrived and with their help, three others were also rescued. All six of them were semi-unconscious while being taken to Guru Teg Bahadur hospital hospital. However, four of them were declared dead on arrival,” said DCP Choudhary.

According to the DCP, the building comprises ground plus four floors with a single staircase. “The owner of the building is Bharat Singh, who occupies the ground and first floors. The upper floors are on rent. Legal action is being taken,” added the DCP.

Police said that they were trying to ascertain the exact reason behind the blaze. “Prime facie, it appears that the fire started due to a short circuit on the ground floor. However, the exact reason behind the blaze will be ascertained after a thorough investigation,” said a senior police officer, asking not to be named.

The incident comes to light nearly a week after five people were killed and two more were critically injured after a blaze swept through a residential building at Pitampura in northwest Delhi.