20150527 India Maid dies in house fire, architect saves 87-yr-old
India May 26 2015 “Apartment houses”
Dead : dead 1 to 4 Burnout : 0 or unknown Injured : injured 0 or unknown
Maid dies in house fire, architect saves 87-yr-old
Updated: 2015-05-28-03:02
A maid employed by a Delhi University professor died when a fire gutted his apartment in Green Park on Wednesday afternoon. The professor’s elderly father, who was home at the time of the incident, was rescued by an architect who had also raised the alarm.
The fire was reported from K10 at Green Park Extension around 12.45pm. Five fire tenders were rushed there, said an official. N R Banerjee (87) and the help, Mamta (45), were at home. The Banerjees lived on the first floor.
Banerjee, who is himself a retired DU professor, was rescued by architect Amit Kumar. Kumar was in his office on the ground floor when he noticed smoke coming out of the first. He immediately made a PCR call.
“I rushed to help sir as he cannot walk unaided. I called out to the woman who worked for him to exit from the back of the house. But she spoke neither Hindi nor English,” Kumar said.
Banerjee said that Mamta had been taking a bath when the fire took place. Fire officials believe she wasted precious minutes dressing while the fire spread rapidly.
The fire tenders were delayed by about 15 minutes as the colony gate was shut.
A team led by Vishuddhanand Jha, SHO, Safdarjung Enclave police station, rescued two people—Gaurav Kanojia and Ashish. They were provided with a staircase so that they could climb from the balcony of the top floor to the terrace of the adjacent building, police said.
A neighbour informed Banerjee’s son, Abhishek, a professor of economics in DU. The flat above Banerjee’s also caught fire but only the entrance gate was gutted.
Vandana Yadav, director, department of commerce, said, My children usually stay alone in the afternoon. At the time of the fire, my children were not home. When they returned, they informed me about the smoke. I immediately called up my domestic help and asked her to get out of the house safely. She used the balcony to get out of the house. A few labourers, who were working nearby, provided her a staircase.
Police suspect short circuit in air-conditioning to have caused the fire. The burn injuries on the deceased person’s body are superficial which suggests that she died of asphyxiation, a senior police officer said.
Web Source： The times of India
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/delhi/Maid-dies-in-house-fire-architect-saves-87-yr-old/articleshow/47450627.cms