Upendra Mishra, who lost his wife and two children when their car caught fire at Akshardham flyover, had took the car on lease from a cab aggregator for his younger brother, said the family members on Monday.
The police said that the fire was caused due to electrical short circuit in the car.
The bodies of the victims were handed over to family members after a post-mortem at GTB hospital.
Mr. Mishra, who works as a valuation engineer with an automobile company, said that he got the car on lease on Friday from the office of a cab aggregator in Gurugram. “My younger brother Satyendra Mishra ply heavy vehicle and used to remain out of the city for long. To settle him, I got him cab on lease so that he can earn money and stay in the city with his family,” said Mr. Mishra.
Visted Kalkaji temple
“My wife Ranjana used to believe in spirituality and before initiating a new work, she used to visit Kalkaji temple. We all went to visit Kalkaji temple in the cab and on the way back home, she said that she wanted to visit Akshardham as well. I took a U-turn on Pusta Road and drove towards Akshardham,” said Mr Mishra.
Mr. Mishra said while he was driving the vehicle, he saw intense smoke coming from the dashboard and in no time blaze erupted from the dashboard. “I rushed outside and took my three-year-old daughter along. Seeing the fire, a few vehicles also stopped at the location. My wife and two daughters got trapped on the back seat and the doors were jammed,” said Mr. Mishra.
Stuck between seats
The wind shield of the rear door of the car was broke open with the help of sharp object given by a passer-by. “I tried to enter the car and even got hold on my wife’s arm. But she got stuck between the seats. The fire was intense and I was dragged out by some passer-by. I again rushed inside the car by covering my face with a jacket, but was again pulled back by people. My family died in front of my eyes and I was helpless,” said Mr. Mishra.
DCP (East) Jasmeet Singh said that a case has been registered under IPC section 304 A (causing death by negligence) at Mandawali police station. The case is under investigation.
“A team of technical experts visited the accident spot and they checked the car to ascertain the reason behind the fire,” said Mr. Singh.
