Nine persons, including a two-month-old girl, were killed when a major fire broke out at a three-storey building in Rohini’s Kirari in the early hours of Monday. This is the second such incident in the Capital in less than a month after the Anaj Mandi fire in which over 40 people died.
The deceased were identified as owner of the residential building Ram Chander Jha (65), his wife Sudariya Devi (58), their daughter-in-law Sanju (28), Sanju’s mother Guddan, Uday Kant Chaudhary, his wife Muskan and their three children Anjali (9), Adarsh (7) and two-month-old Tulsi. While Jha along with his family members were residing on the first floor of the building, Chaudhary’s family was staying on rent on the first floor. However, Pooja (24), her daughter Aradhya (3) and Sanju’s daughter Somya (10), who were also at the building at the time of incident, escaped with minor injuries.
Cylinder blast
The ground floor from where the fire is suspected to have started was being used as a godown for clothes. The fire had triggered a cylinder blast on the second floor. The impact of the blast was such that a part of the adjoining wall collapsed and fell on to the barren plot right next to the building.
Neighbours Avdhesh Pathak, who along with his brother Devesh Pathak and Rajesh Kumar, were among the first responders and they saved the lives of three.
Recalling the incident, Avdesh, who is a street vendor, said that around noon, he and his brother were having dinner when he heard Pooja shouting for help. They went outside and saw her on the rooftop with two minor girls.
“I called my brother and other neighbours and we climbed up using a wooden staircase and brought them down. The doors of the first floor were however shut. The three who escaped the fire had managed to reach the terrace through the staircase,” he said.
Though Pooja had told them about others being trapped inside the house, they couldn’t help as the door was jammed due to the heat.
At the time of the incident, Pooja’s husband Amarnath alias Tinku had gone to Haridwar for performing the rituals of his deceased brother, who is Sanju’s husband.
The deceased Ram Chander Jha and his wife used to shuttle between Delhi and their home town in Bihar’s Madhubani. The family said that they had come to Delhi only about 10 days ago. Sanju’s mother Guddan had come to help her daughter about two months ago.
Uday Kant Chaudhary’s family said that he worked with the Customs Department. He had been staying on the first floor for over two years. They wanted to leave the house and were planning to move out on January 1.
Distress call
Delhi Fire Service Director Atul Garg said that they received a distress call at 12.25 a.m. after which nine fire tenders were pressed into service. “Three persons on the second floor were charred to death and the rest died of asphyxiation. The fire is suspected to have started from the ground floor and spread to the upper floors,” Mr. Garg said.
Mr. Garg also said that there was only one exit in the building, which was locked from inside, and there was no fire safety equipment.
Deputy Commissioner of Police (Rohini) S.D. Mishra said that no commercial activity was going on in the building and the ground floor was being used to store cloth material.
“The ground floor was given for rent to one Vijay Katara. The clothes had been stocked there a few days ago,” he said.
He added that a case under Section 285 (negligent conduct with respect to fire or combustible matter), 337 (causing hurt by act endangering life or personal safety of others) and 304A (causing death by negligence) of the Indian Penal Code has been registered.
