A 42-year-old man died while his five family members sustained critical injuries after a massive fire broke out in a mobile repairing shop in Northeast Delhi's Maujpur area in the early hours of Friday.
According to the police, the deceased, identified as Harish reportedly went to his mobile repairing shop located on the ground floor to save his 70-year-old mother, who was sleeping in the shop.
According to a senior Delhi Fire Service official, they received a call around 5.45am about the fire incident following which two fire tenders were pressed into service.
The fire official said they suspect that the fire broke out due to short circuit in the water metre installed near the stairs of the ground floor which further engulfed the entire three storey building.
Narrating what happened, Prince, Harish's nephew said, “My uncle runs a mobile repairing shop on the ground floor and lives on the first floor with his wife, Vandana and two sons -- Abhinav (8) and Anant (4). On the second floor, a relative Ghanshyam (28) lives with his wife Neha (27).”
“My aunt Vandana goes for her morning walk every day. Since there is only one exit door of the three-storeyed house, she went and locked it from outside. It was minutes later that the neighbours saw smoke billowing from Harish's building and informed his brother who lives a metre away.On seeing that the fire is quickly spreading, the neighbours informed the fire department,” added Prince.
When the fire officers went inside, they saw that all the family members were on the second floor while my uncle Harish was lying in the shop, burnt and unconscious.
Police said that all the injured were rushed to the Guru Tegh Bahadur hospital where Harish succumbed to injuries while his two sons are struggling for their life in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU). On the other hand, Harish's mother has been transferred to the lok Nayak Hospital where she is stated to be stable. Ghanshyam and his wife are stated to be undergoing treatment at GTB Hospital and stated to be in a stable condition.
While the fire department officials reached the spot and rescued the injured, family members of Harish claim that the fire department did not do their job well. “The fire officials left within a hour, however, the fire started again and then they came back to douse the flames,”
Police said that in the absence of any exits and the fact that the shop door was latched the members were stuck in the building for a long time.
Police said that they have registered a case and are investigating the matter.