Woman dies, 2 hurt as fire engulfs building

Rescue work hit after cylinders explode; short circuit may have triggered fire

A 32 year-old-woman died while two others, including her seven-year-old son and a fire personnel, sustained burns after a two-storey building caught fire at Loni in Ghaziabad on Thursday morning. The police said a bakery unit was functioning on the ground floor and prima facie it appears that the building caught fire due to a short circuit. The situation turned worse after two LPG cylinders exploded and the building collapsed. It delayed the rescue operations.

According to Chief Fire Officer Sunil Kumar Singh, the incident took place around 1 a.m. and a call was received at around 1.40 a.m. from the neighbours.

Firefighter injured

“Initially, three fire tenders were rushed to the spot. During the rescue operation, two cylinders blasted one after the other and a fire fighter Raghunath Prasad (49), was injured. He was admitted to Max hospital in Noida for treatment,” said Mr. Singh.

The deceased, identified as Fatima, belongs to Bijnor in Uttar Pradesh. Her son Aneez (7) was also injured in the fire accident. She was living with her husband and four children in the house. Naveel Ahmand (34), husband of the deceased, runs a bakery shop with his two younger brothers.

“At the time of incident, I was sleeping with my wife and children on the first floor whereas my two younger brothers Nadeem (28), and Aseem (25), were on the second floor of the building,” Ahmad said.

Eyewitnesses said that the fire brigade managed to evacuate the rest from the building on time. The fire brigade and the NDRF team pulled out the body of the woman after four-hour of rescue operation

Worker alerts others

SHO of Loni police station Sanjay Verma said Layeeq (22), a worker, was sleeping in the bakery on the ground floor and he woke up due to the heat. He immediately alerted Ahmad about the fire.

“Ahmad and Layeeq rushed to the shop and tried to douse the fire. But within a few minutes, the fire spread to other portions of the building. In the meantime, Fatima and her four children got struck on the first floor. In order to save her children, she threw them down from the first floor during which Aneez got injured. Police took the child to GTB hospital for treatment,” said Mr. Verma.

The police said, soon after that, Fatima fell unconscious and when the fire service personnel tried to pull her out of the building, LPG cylinders blast and the building collapsed.

“Later, Fatima was taken to the hospital where she was declared brought dead,” said a senior police officer.