20210701 Fire breaks out at house in Delhi’s Budh Vihar, 3 injured
India Jul 01 2021 “Building” “Houses”
Dead : dead 0 or unknown Burnout : 1 to 29 Injured : injured 1 to 9
Fire breaks out at house in Delhi’s Budh Vihar, 3 injured
Updated: 2021-07-01
NEW DELHI: A 48-year old woman and her three children were asphyxiated to death in a fire in northeast Delhi’s Farsh Bazar around midnight on Tuesday. The woman’s 29-year old son survived with 30% burn injuries. Police said the fire was probably caused by a leaking gas cylinder that was set aflame by a short-circuit in the electric meter.
The fire department claimed receiving a call around 12.12am about an LPG cylinder blast in Bhikam Singh Colony in Farsh Bazar. “We rushed nine fire tenders to the site of the blaze,” said Atul Garg, director, Delhi Fire Service. “The fire was quickly brought under control and five people were moved out of the house and rushed to the hospital. Four of them had been rendered unconscious after inhaling smoke, while the fifth sustained 30% burn injuries.” The fire department identified the dead as Munni Devi, 45, her sons Naresh, 22, and Omprakash, 20, and daughter Sunita, 18. The eldest of the sons, Lal Chand, 29, suffered burns and is undergoing treatment at a hospital.
With his father having died last year, Chand is the lone survivor in the family. He runs a food cart business near a mall in east Delhi. Chand said, “We lived on the ground floor, where the house owner ran a cooking gas refilling shop. He filled smaller cylinders with gas from bigger cylinders.”
Recalling the tragic incident, the son said he was on his mobile phone around midnight when his mother asked him who he was phoning at that time. “Suddenly, I saw a ball of fire and thought the roof had collapsed. Then I realised that the gas cylinder had exploded. I ran towards the door but the wall collapsed. The fire went out quickly, but dense smoke filled the rooms. I stuck mine face, and my younger brother’s, out of the window, but it was too late for him and the others. I lost my entire family.”
A police team evacuated the families living on the other floors to safety. No one else besides Munni Devi’s family was affected. A police officer said, “There were no burn injuries on the bodies of the deceased. The cause of the fire is believed to be a short circuit in the electric meter board and there is a possibility that a gas cylinder was leaking. Investigations are under progress and legal action will be initiated after recording the statement of the injured Lal Chand.”
Web Source: The Times of India