New Delhi, Oct 18 (PTI) A fire broke out in a house in Delhi’s Shahdara area in the early hours of Friday, resulting in the deaths of a 16-year-old boy and her mother and injuries to four other members of the family, officials said.
A call regarding the blaze was received at around 5:25 am and six fire tenders were pressed into service, an official of the Delhi Fire Services (DFS) said.
The fire broke out on the third and fourth floors of the four-storey residential building in Bholanath Nagar. It was brought under control in two hours, the official said.
“The charred bodies of 42-year-old Shilpi Gupta and her son, Pranav Gupta, were found from the house,” a police officer said.
The injured — Kailash Gupta (72), his wife Bhagwati Gupta (70), their son Manish Gupta (45) and Manish’s son Parth (19) — are undergoing treatment in the Guru Teg Bahadur (GTB) Hospital, the officer added.
Two minor siblings rescued during the fire-fighting operations were discharged from the hospital after treatment, he said.
The deceased were the wife and son of Manish Gupta, who is in a critical condition, the officer said.
Deputy Commissioner of Police (Shahdara) Prashant Gautam said the woman and her son apparently died due to asphyxia.
“A forensic team was called to the spot. We have registered an FIR under sections 125(A) (act endangering life or personal safety of others) and 106 (causing death by negligence) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and launched further investigation into the matter,” he added.
Manish Kumar, the father of the two children who were rescued, said, “The fire tenders came late due to which two lives were lost.” Another neighbour, Shobhit Gupta, said the fire tenders arrived late due to the vehicles parked in the narrow lanes of Bholanath Nagar.
“The fire tenders reached after an hour and a half. By then both the floors were engulfed in fire,” he told PTI Videos.
It is suspected that a short-circuit led to the fire but police are probing the matter.
The victims’ family members blamed the narrow lanes and the chaotic parking situation for the delay in the fire-fighting operations.
Locals blamed a delayed arrival of the fire engines for the tragedy.
The DFS received an emergency call at 5:24 am and within minutes, the fire engines were sent to the location, a firefighter told PTI. He, however, admitted that the narrow lanes and haphazard parking of vehicles led to a significant delay in launching the fire-fighting operations.
“The delay was a key factor behind the deaths of my family members,” said Hariom Gupta, a relative of the victims.
He said even though the fire tenders were very close to the house, they could not get through the vehicles parked all along the narrow lanes.
“Big fire engines were sent back and smaller ones took more than 20 minutes to reach the location,” he said. PTI ALK BM RC
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