A couple and their two sons suffocated to death in a tragic incident on Tuesday morning after a fire broke out at their home in Dwarka’s Prem Nagar area. Meanwhile, a fire broke out in a storeroom in the old emergency building of the Safdarjung Hospital where a nurse was rescued from the third floor of the building after breaking a window.
The Delhi Fire Service Chief Atul Garg said the fire department was informed about the fire around 3.30 am and two fire tenders were sent to the spot. The deceased were identified as 48-year-old Heera Singh Kakkar, his 40- year-old wife Neetu and their sons, 22-year-old Robin and 21-year-old Lakshay.
Kakkar was a photographer by profession and the house was owned by the family. According to the DFS official, the fire was caused by an inverter and it spread to an adjacent sofa on the first floor of the two-storey building, leading to the four victims inhaling smoke.
The Delhi Police has also conducted an inquiry into the case. DCP Dwarka Ankit Singh said the main iron gate was locked from inside. “The gate was broken. Incident took place on the first floor of the said house,” he said.
The victims were found injured due to suffocation of smoke, he said.
All four were rushed to Rao Tularam Memorial (RTRM) Hospital by PCR where the doctors declared them brought dead. The site was inspected by the Delhi Police’s Crime Team.
Heera Singh Kakkar’s mother Sita Devi was sleeping on the ground floor of the building, a police officer said, adding that she was unharmed. The fire was doused within a few minutes but there was a lot of smoke inside the house, the officer said. The bodies were shifted to a mortuary for post-mortem examination. A case under relevant sections is being registered and further probe is underway, police said.
West Delhi BJP MP Kamaljeet Sehrawat visited Prem Nagar to assess the situation and offered condolences to Kakkar’s mother and family while instructing Councillor Amit Kharkhari, who accompanied her to meet the family, to provide every possible assistance to the bereaved family.
In a separate incident, another fire broke out in a store room in the old emergency building of the Safdarjung Hospital. There have been no casualties or reports of anyone being injured so far. A nurse was rescued from the third floor of the building after breaking a window.
A hospital official said that everything is under control now and no patient was affected due to the fire. DFS chief Atul Garg said the department received information about the fire around 10.40 am.
“The fire was at gate no. 6 of the old emergency building of the Safdarjung Hospital. Seven fire tenders were rushed to the spot. The fire broke out in the building’s store room,” he added.
Dr Ayush of Safdarjung Hospital, who was on duty at the time of the incident, said he and others were alerted about the fire around 10.30 am. “The police station is close to the Safdarjung Hospital and policemen reached the spot immediately. The police actively coordinated with the firefighters, who also reached the spot soon,” he said.
He claimed the fire started due to a short circuit on the ground floor. Due to the smoke, some of the nursing staff got stuck on the third floor but were evacuated safely. Manoj Kumar Sharma, DFS Divisional Officer (South) said, “Eleven fire tenders, including fire bowsers, were rushed to the spot. We controlled the fire immediately and rescued an elderly nurse from the third floor after breaking a window of the hospital,” adding that a police investigation will ascertain the cause of the fire.
