Water motor led to blaze? 3 kids among 9 of family killed in Delhi's Palam building fire; 3 residents jump from top floors

NEW DELHI: A deadly inferno tore through a residential-cum-commercial building in southwest Delhi's Palam area on Wednesday morning, claiming the lives of nine family members, including three children. Three residents jumped from the top floors and are now battling for life at hospital.

The fire was likely sparked by a short circuit on the ground floor, an initial probe suggested. A detailed investigation involving police, fire dept and govt is on. The building was owned by businessman and Sadhnagar market association president Rajender Kashyap (70), who had gone to Goa for work two days prior to the incident. He returned on Wednesday to find his family members dead.

While 12 people were pulled from the wreckage and rushed to various medical facilities, nine of them were either declared dead on arrival or succumbed to injuries later.

The blaze at the building, located in WZ block in Ram Chowk Market, broke out around 7am and a thick cloud of smoke soon engulfed the four-storeyed building. The emergency response team involved 30 fire tenders and 100 firefighters, who battled the blaze for hours. They were supported by 11 CATS ambulances, police as well as personnel from NDRF. The building housed a cloth and cosmetics showroom named 'Pravesh Moderate' in the basement, ground floor and first floor, while the family lived on second and third floors. The presence of large stockpiles of garments and cosmetic items acted as fuel to fire. As the flames engulfed lower floors, upper floors became a death trap for the residents. "Seven bodies were recovered from a hall on the third floor, while two bodies were found from a bathroom of the building," the officer said. After the postmortems, nine bodies have been cremated.

Businessman Yogesh Sharma, an eyewitness, said they tried to break open the showroom shutter to rescue those trapped inside. "My son was on his way to his college when he alerted me about the blaze at the shop. Along with other residents, I rushed to the spot. It took nearly 4 to 5 hours to bring the fire under control," he said.

While police claimed that the residents of the building were awake at the time of the incident, locals said they were sleeping and were alerted by other residents.

"We came to know that the water motor had been left switched on, which may have caused a spark," resident Ramesh Kumar said. However, the police said they are still investigating the cause of the fire.

At Manipal Hospital, eight victims were identified: Lado Devi, (70), 33-year-old Pravesh, 39-year-old Kamal, 35-year-old Ashu, Himanshi (22) and three minor girls Niharika (15), Ivani (6) , and Jessica (3). At IG Hospital, 28-year-old Deepika was declared dead. Three others are currently battling for life, including 32-year-old Anil and 2-year-old Mitali at IGI Hospital. Sachin, 29, was admitted to Safdarjung Hospital with 25% burn injuries.

According to family members, Deepika is suspected to have died of suffocation even though she suffered some burns. Anil and Mitali survived after Anil threw Mitali from the fourth floor and jumped thereafter. Mitali sustained fractures in both her legs after the fall while Anil sustained head injuries. Sachin also survived the fire with injuries after jumping to an adjacent house.

A case under sections 287 (negligent conduct with respect to fire or combustible matter), 125 (Act endangering life or personal safety of others) and 106 (1) (Causing death by negligence) of BNS has been registered. The fire was doused by evening after which cooling and search operations were initiated. Compensation packages have been announced by Delhi govt and PMO. PMO said compensation of Rs 2 lakh from the Prime Minister's National Relief Fund will be provided to the next of kin of each deceased, while those injured will receive Rs 50,000. Delhi govt announced additional monetary support, including Rs 10 lakh for the families of deceased adults, Rs 5 lakh for the families of deceased minors, and Rs 2 lakh for each seriously injured.