20220823 Ghaziabad: Couple, toddler choke to death as fire breaks out on floor below
India Aug 23 2022 “Building” “Warehouses”
Dead : dead 1 to 4 Burnout : 1 to 29 Injured : injured 0 or unknown
Ghaziabad: Couple, toddler choke to death as fire breaks out on floor below
Updated: 2022-08-23
Ghaziabad: A couple and their four-month-old daughter suffocated to death as a fire broke out in a warehouse in the ground floor of a three-storey building in Sihani Gate early on Monday.
Ten other residents of the building escaped the flames and smoke by jumping on to the terrace of an adjacent house. Fire tenders could not enter the narrow lane leading to the building and the officers had to fight the flames from 50 metres away. It took two hours to douse the blaze.
Fire department officials said a short circuit could have sparked the flames at the warehouse, where plastic sheets, clothes and other inflammable materials were kept. As these caught fire, a thick black cloud of smoke engulfed the building.
The deceased were identified as Pankaj Kumar (30), his wife Kavita (26), and their daughter Kritika. Originally from Bulandshahr, Pankaj worked as a food delivery executive. The building is owned by Kavita’s brother, Sunil Dutt.
While the ground floor of the building houses the godown, the two floors above have four families staying in each. Most were asleep when the fire broke out around 2am.
Sunil Kumar Singh, the chief fire officer (CFO) of Ghaziabad, said three fire tenders were rushed to the area, but they could not enter the narrow lane. “It was too narrow a lane for the fire trucks to enter. So, the fire brigade used a hose pipe from the main road and aimed at the ground floor nearly 50 metres away. The flames were brought under control after two hours,” he added.
“When the fire started, there were 13 people in the building – six on the first floor and seven on the second. Somehow, 10 of them managed to reach the terrace of the building using the stairs and jumped to the adjacent house,” the CFO said.
Pankaj and his wife tried to come out of the room, but became unconscious. “When we broke into their room, we found the body of the mother and the child near the door. The body of Pankaj lay on the floor near the bed,” Singh said.
Dutt, the owner of the builder, sniffed a conspiracy. “I suspect someone set the building on fire. Although there is an electric meter box on the ground floor, there is no power connection. I will lodge a police complaint soon,” he added.
SP (City 1) Nipurn Aggarwal said police were yet to receive a complaint. “But we are investigating the case from all angles and checking CCTV footage from cameras installed in nearby areas to see if we find any suspect,” he added.
The police have sent the bodies for autopsy and are waiting for the reports, the SP said.
Till August 15 this year, Ghaziabad had reported 786 incidents of fire. Four persons died while firefighters managed to rescue 36 people from flames.
Web Source: The Times of India