Delhi Fire: Nine members of a family, including three children were killed after a fire broke out in a multi-storey residential building in Delhi's Palam on Wednesday morning. Residents in the neighborhood sprang into action before emergency services arrived, helping rescue a family trapped in the fire.
Palam Village police station received information about the blaze at 7:04 am, PTI reported.
The five-storey building, owned by Rajendra Kashyap, housed a cosmetic shop on the ground and first floors, while the family lived on the upper floors, reported jagran.com. As flames rapidly engulfed the structure, neighbours rushed to the scene, shouting warnings, climbing rooftops, and even breaking through a wall to reach those trapped inside.
Eyewitnesses described the rescue efforts as risky with locals doing everything they could to save lives amid thick smoke and spreading flames.
One of the neighbours, Yogesh Sharma, recounted how the incident unfolded. "My son catches the bus from the flyover every day. Today, when he left for college, he called around 6:40 and informed us about the fire. I immediately rushed to the spot and asked my father to call 102," Sharma said.
"My father called 102, and when I reached there, I saw that the fire had already spread rapidly," he added, as quoted by jagran.com.
Describing the challenges faced during the rescue, Sharma said, "We went to the roof of the adjacent house, but the fire had spread so much that we had a hard time extinguishing it. Then we broke down the wall; the whole process took two hours."
According to him, the fire brigade eventually arrived and rescued around seven people from the building. Before their arrival, three individuals had jumped from the structure in a bid to escape the flames, with one sustaining a fractured arm and another suffering injuries.
Around 30 fire tenders and 11 ambulances were pressed into service, along with personnel from the police, BSES, Air Force police and the NDRF, as per PTI.
PM Modi Announces Ex-Gratia
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Among the people who were rescued from the building, nine were declared dead at the hospital. Pravesh (33), Kamal, (39), Ashu (35) Lado (70 ), Himanshi (22), Deepika (28) and three minor girls aged 15, six and three -- were identified to have died in the fire, PTI reported. Anil (32) and one girl aged two are under treatment and Sachin (29) was being treated for 25 per cent burn injuries at Safdarjung Hospital.