The four-storeyed building in Shahdara, where four of a family died in a blaze on the intervening night of Thursday and Friday, had 11 residential flats but only one exit. On top of it, when the building caught fire, over 10 two-wheelers were not only blocking this exit but were also providing fuel.
More than five residents were injured when they either jumped off the first floor or climbed down their balconies using sarees as rope.
Devansh, who had bought a house in the ill-fated building just 10 days ago, said: "People were hanging from their balconies on the second and third floors to escape the blaze. We pulled many of them down to safety. Some of them had minor burns but most got injured because of falling from a height."
Devansh's house was on the ground floor, and the fuel from the parked vehicles caused the most extensive damage there. He lost a number of valuables. "I opened the door of my living room, which opens in the parking area, to see a huge blaze. I threw a bucket-full of water on the fire but all in vain. Then the windowpanes cracked with an explosion. That is when we all rushed out from the backdoor and started helping others to escape," Devansh said Binesh Rathi, a school teacher who lives with her husband on the second floor, fell while she was trying to climb down a saree. "The woman fell and dislocated her shoulder. She also fractured her foot. Families on the back side of the building attempted to escape using a ladder, but it broke and a man and his son were left hanging from the balcony. Other residents helped them get down," a local said.
Stating that this was the third incident of fire reported from the locality, residents said a spark in the electricity meters, following a short-circuit, led to the tragedy. "The electricity department should conduct regular checks to ensure safety. Even the Fire Department staffers arrived late. If they had come on time, more lives could have been saved," a resident said.
Up in flames
June 1: A fireman was killed and two of his colleagues were injured when a cylinder exploded during a rescue operation in an electric heater factory in Anand Parbat Industrial Area.
May 1: A 50-year-old man was killed in a blaze that gutted more than 30 shanties in outer Delhi’s Begumpur.
April 14: A person died when a major fire broke out at a building in central Delhi’s Karol Bagh.
March 3: A cylinder blast in a west Delhi restaurant killed two firemen and left two others critically injured.
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