In a major fire in famous Gandhinagar market in East Delhi, three people suffered minor burns while valuables worth lakhs were gutted on Tuesday afternoon. Police said a few shops were also gutted in the inferno. According to fire officials, the call about the blaze was received at 3.15 pm and it took 30 fire tenders four hours to tame the inferno. “The stop call was received at 7.15 pm,” said an official of Delhi Fire Service (DFS).
Police said that the three-storey building is located at Pratap Gali, which houses garment warehouse on the first and second floor while a kerosene depot on its ground floor. The blaze started after a minor fire broke out at the ground floor of the building, which stores kerosene oil. Meanwhile, people present inside the building were evacuated.
“It was the kerosene oil depot due to which it became extremely difficult to control the flames and then the garments lying on the first floor compounded our woes,” said a fire official. Police have filed a case under relevant sections. The entire area was cordoned off as the fire spread and the exact cause of how the kerosene oil caught fire is being investigated.
Police said that the three injured were admitted to Guru Teg Bahadur (GTB) Hospital. Their condition is stated to be out of danger. Three shops located close to the building were also engulfed in flames. A ballpark estimate suggests that the loss of property could run into several lakhs.