In a tragic incident, three minor children of a family, including a six-month-old boy, died on Sunday and another was severely injured in a fire that broke out at a slum cluster in northeast Delhi’s New Usmanpur area around 11.30 pm on Saturday.
The deceased children have been identified as Reena (10), Meena (7), daughters of one Kallu Ram, and his son, Mubarak (six months old). Their neighbour’s son Shakhuddin also got trapped inside a burning shanty, said police, adding that he has been admitted in a hospital with 60 per cent burn injuries.
As the fire broke out eight fire tenders were rushed to the spot and it took them around three hours to douse the flames and finish the cooling operation, said an official at Delhi Fire Services, adding that more than a dozen shanties were gutted.
The fire is suspected to have been caused by a short circuit and the situation got worse when three cooking gas cylinders exploded. The children were trapped in their shanties and save one the others could not be saved despite the launch of an immediate joint rescue operation by police and fire officials, said police.
Also, two buffaloes died in the fire and the injured child Shakhuddin’s father Allah Rakha suffered burn injuries while trying to save the children, police said.
later in the day, Delhi Commission for Women (DCW) chairperson Swati Maliwal visited the slum cluster, and said she will take up the matter with the Delhi State legal Services Authority, seeking compensation for the victims’ kin.
“Though nothing can compensate such a huge loss (of lives), we will write to the DlSA seeking compensation for the family of the victims,” said Maliwal, adding it is the “saddest” thing that could ever happen to a family.
“The family is very poor. They had a tarpaulin sheet on their head. So when it burnt, the mother managed to escape but it fell on the children. The mother was inconsolable,” she said.
Maliwal said a doctor was called to the spot during her visit and the mother was rushed to a nearby hospital.