FIRE

Indore: A day after the incident which claimed seven lives in Ranipura, residents were still in a state of shock as they couldn’t forget the horrific scene they were forced to witness in their area on Tuesday.

For 40-year-old Nisha Verma, the incident was a nightmare and it was something she could never forget.

“I was making tea in my house when I heard a blast. We thought a marriage procession was passing through the lane. After a few minutes when I heard people screaming and shouting I rushed outside to see the entire area was engulfed in

fire

,” she said.

Nisha’s 18-year-old son Bharat is specially-abled and he was not at home at the time of the incident. She was scared that he had also been trapped in one of the burning shops. While helping her other three children out of the house and away from the burning building, Nisha desperately searched for her son.

“When I started looking for him, I saw a burning man running down the lane to save himself. The residents pushed him to the ground and doused the flames. He was then put on a cart and rushed to the hospital,” said Nisha.

“The entire scene keeps repeating itself in front of my eyes. I couldn’t sleep at night. I was fortunate that I found my son near the shop and dragged him back to safety. He was trying to run towards the fire,” she added.

While IMC officials were somehow trying to clear the debris from the narrow lanes at the site, residents were seen sweeping and mopping their houses in the afternoon on Wednesday. The temple in the Suryawanshi Kuril Dharmashala just opposite the shop where the fire was triggered was also being tidied by the workers.

Shoe shop owner Sandeep Mishra claimed he was shocked after he came to know Jagdeesh Solanki was also trapped in one of the shops.

“He was a regular customer and came to Indore every Tuesday. He spoke to me before going to the shop,” said Mishra adding that he had seen fireballs zooming in the lane before he ran away to save himself.