n Four people died while 11 others suffered after a fire broke out in a five-storeyed residential building in Shastri Nagar Gali No-13 near Geeta Colony.Geeta Colony on Thursday morning. According to police, the deceased includes a couple along with their two children. The victims have been identified as Manoj (30), his wife Suman (28) and two girls aged five and three years.

"We got information from the hospital that four people -- two children and a couple -- died due to suffocation and burn injuries. As per preliminary on-spot observation by the FSL team, spark in the electric wire could be the reason for the fire. Further investigation is on," Deputy Commissioner of Police (Shahdara) Surendra Choudhary said.

 The officer further said that they received a call around 5:20 am about the fire in the Shastri Nagar area of Shahdara. The Delhi Fire Services was informed immediately. A local police team, nine fire tenders, ambulances, and PCR vans were rushed to the spot.

 Police said that four of the severely injured persons identified as Baby (32), Nandu (25), Rakesh Kumar (34), and Iafra, aged two-and-a-half years old, were referred to the GTB Hospital.  According to the police, Prashant (28), Aqib (24), Yashoda (36), Shifada (24), Jagrit (nine), Bulbul (27), and Rajni (28) were undergoing treatment for burns in different units of Dr Hedgewar Aarogya Sansthan.

 Police said the building where the fire broke out has four floors and there is a car parking area on the ground floor.  They said the fire started from the parking lot and the smoke engulfed the entire building.

 "Even though the street is narrow, fire officials managed to reach the spot on time and douse the flames. A search was conducted on each floor. Three men, four women, and two children were sent to Dr Hedgewar Aarogya Sansthan hospital," the officer said.

 Police said they later received information from the hospital that four people -- two children and a couple -- were dead. According to the police, a car and a motorcycle were gutted in the fire and blocked the building entrance.  Witnesses said since the entrance was blocked due to the fire, survivors had to run to the terrace and had to jump on the terraces of adjacent buildings to save their lives.

 Aman Singh, an eyewitness, said, "It was so horrible. People were screaming for saving their lives. They went to the terrace and jumped on the terraces of the neighbouring buildings."  Another eyewitness, Vijay Sharma, said the firefighters doused the flames in half-an-hour, but due to the smoke and fire in the main exit area, people could not leave the building immediately.

Four lives could have been saved, if the car was not parked there," Sharma said.

 Some neighbours said they woke up after hearing screams and loud siren. "Everyone was trying to douse the flames by pouring water, but in vein," said Jyoti, a neighbour. Earlier in February, a massive fire that broke out in a building that housed an illegal paint manufacturing factory in Nehru Enclave near Alipur in outer Delhi which claimed 11 lives, including that of a woman. The factory was run by Akhil Jain and the plot was owned by Raj Rani, a resident of Nehru Enclave, police said, adding that nobody who was present at the factory during the incident survived.

"I jumped on the terrace of the adjacent building to save myself from the raging fire," recalled Babita, one of the survivors of the Shastri Nagar fire that claimed the lives of two children and a couple on Thursday.

 As fire blocked the entrance of the four-storey building, survivors had to run to the terrace and jump on the terraces of adjacent buildings in a desperate attempt to escape the blaze.

 "When we saw the fire flames, we called the police and tried to escape. However, due to the high flames and smoke, we couldn't go downstairs. So we ran towards the building terrace. From there we jumped to another building to save our lives," Babita said

 Two-and-a-half-year-old Iafra, who lived with her parents Aqib (24) and Shifada (24) on the first floor of the building, is undergoing treatment at GTB hospital and her condition is “turning critical”, her relative said

 Recollecting the harrowing incident, neighbours said they woke up to blaring sirens of fire extinguishers and screams of people calling for help.

 "We woke up to the noise of sirens and people screaming and realised one of the buildings in our lane had caught fire. There was complete chaos. People were trying to extinguish the fire with buckets of water but it had little to no effect as the flames were huge," said Jyoti, who lives in the same lane in Geeta Colony. An official at Dr Hedgewer Arogya Sansthan hospital said 15 patients were brought to the hospital. Four of them were declared dead and four others were referred to GTB hospital in critical condition. Staff Reporter n New Delhi

Four people died while 11 others suffered after a fire broke out in a five-storeyed residential building in Shastri Nagar Gali No-13 near Geeta Colony.Geeta Colony on Thursday morning. According to police, the deceased includes a couple along with their two children. The victims have been identified as Manoj (30), his wife Suman (28) and two girls aged five and three years.

"We got information from the hospital that four people -- two children and a couple -- died due to suffocation and burn injuries. As per preliminary on-spot observation by the FSL team, spark in the electric wire could be the reason for the fire. Further investigation is on," Deputy Commissioner of Police (Shahdara) Surendra Choudhary said.

 The officer further said that they received a call around 5:20 am about the fire in the Shastri Nagar area of Shahdara. The Delhi Fire Services was informed immediately. A local police team, nine fire tenders, ambulances, and PCR vans were rushed to the spot.

 Police said that four of the severely injured persons identified as Baby (32), Nandu (25), Rakesh Kumar (34), and Iafra, aged two-and-a-half years old, were referred to the GTB Hospital.  According to the police, Prashant (28), Aqib (24), Yashoda (36), Shifada (24), Jagrit (nine), Bulbul (27), and Rajni (28) were undergoing treatment for burns in different units of Dr Hedgewar Aarogya Sansthan.

 Police said the building where the fire broke out has four floors and there is a car parking area on the ground floor.  They said the fire started from the parking lot and the smoke engulfed the entire building.

 "Even though the street is narrow, fire officials managed to reach the spot on time and douse the flames. A search was conducted on each floor. Three men, four women, and two children were sent to Dr Hedgewar Aarogya Sansthan hospital," the officer said.

 Police said they later received information from the hospital that four people -- two children and a couple -- were dead. According to the police, a car and a motorcycle were gutted in the fire and blocked the building entrance.  Witnesses said since the entrance was blocked due to the fire, survivors had to run to the terrace and had to jump on the terraces of adjacent buildings to save their lives.

 Aman Singh, an eyewitness, said, "It was so horrible. People were screaming for saving their lives. They went to the terrace and jumped on the terraces of the neighbouring buildings."  Another eyewitness, Vijay Sharma, said the firefighters doused the flames in half-an-hour, but due to the smoke and fire in the main exit area, people could not leave the building immediately.

Four lives could have been saved, if the car was not parked there," Sharma said.

 Some neighbours said they woke up after hearing screams and loud siren. "Everyone was trying to douse the flames by pouring water, but in vein," said Jyoti, a neighbour. Earlier in February, a massive fire that broke out in a building that housed an illegal paint manufacturing factory in Nehru Enclave near Alipur in outer Delhi which claimed 11 lives, including that of a woman. The factory was run by Akhil Jain and the plot was owned by Raj Rani, a resident of Nehru Enclave, police said, adding that nobody who was present at the factory during the incident survived.

"I jumped on the terrace of the adjacent building to save myself from the raging fire," recalled Babita, one of the survivors of the Shastri Nagar fire that claimed the lives of two children and a couple on Thursday.

 As fire blocked the entrance of the four-storey building, survivors had to run to the terrace and jump on the terraces of adjacent buildings in a desperate attempt to escape the blaze.

 "When we saw the fire flames, we called the police and tried to escape. However, due to the high flames and smoke, we couldn't go downstairs. So we ran towards the building terrace. From there we jumped to another building to save our lives," Babita said

 Two-and-a-half-year-old Iafra, who lived with her parents Aqib (24) and Shifada (24) on the first floor of the building, is undergoing treatment at GTB hospital and her condition is “turning critical”, her relative said

 Recollecting the harrowing incident, neighbours said they woke up to blaring sirens of fire extinguishers and screams of people calling for help.

 "We woke up to the noise of sirens and people screaming and realised one of the buildings in our lane had caught fire. There was complete chaos. People were trying to extinguish the fire with buckets of water but it had little to no effect as the flames were huge," said Jyoti, who lives in the same lane in Geeta Colony. An official at Dr Hedgewer Arogya Sansthan hospital said 15 patients were brought to the hospital. Four of them were declared dead and four others were referred to GTB hospital in critical condition.