Delhi: Fou of a family killed in blaze

New Delhi: Four members of a family, including a 12-year-old girl whose birthday had just been rung in, died in a fire that broke out in a four-storeyed building in Shahdara district’s Dilshad Garden area on early Friday morning. Two others, including the girl’s mother, were injured and admitted to a city hospital.

According to the Delhi Fire Services (DFS), a call was received at 3 am about the blaze that had started in the ground floor and subsequently spread to the other floors of the building. The cause of fire is suspected to be an electric short-circuit as an electric junction box in the ground floor of the building went up in flames.

The police said that the bodies of 12-year-old Harshu, her father Sanjay Verma (40), grandfather Vijay Verma (63), and brother Chiku (four), were found on the staircase. They are said to have died due to asphyxiation. The two injured have been identified as Sanjay’s wife Mona Verma (32), who received 40 to 50 per cent burn injuries; and one Binesh Rathi (40), who jumped from the first floor to escape the fire. They are currently recuperating in the hospital.

12-year-old victim Harshu and her father who died in the blaze.

“After reaching the spot, smoke was seen billowing out of a four-storey building. The police suspects the Verma family tried to get out of their second-floor apartment, got caught in the flames and smoke on the stairs, and died of suffocation. The fire was not a “major” one and there would have been no casualties had the Verma family stayed indoors or parked themselves in the balcony,” said a senior police official.

The other occupants of the building — which houses 11 flats — either stayed in their balcony or rushed to the rooftop to escape the fire. It took nearly two hours for the fire fighters to douse the fire.

According to the neighbour and an eyewitness, the family was celebrating the birthday of their daughter Harshu on Thursday evening and later went off to sleep.

“The family was fast asleep when the fire started at around 2.52 am, following which we saw smoke. We immediately informed the fire department as well as the police about the incident,” the neighbour said.

Fire department officials said that 11 fire tenders were pressed into service to douse the fire. However, help was delayed as fire tenders could not reach the spot due to the vehicles parked on both sides of the road in the colony.