Marriage celebrations turned into grief as five members of a family died after a gas cylinder leaked and caught fire in South-East Delhi’s Jasola area on Friday afternoon. The groom’s side had left for the wedding on Friday morning but returned without solemnising the wedding. The groom’s mother was charred to death along with other family members, including two children.
The Fire Department received a call about the incident at 11.15 am. The fire broke out on the first floor in D-block area at Jasola. The house belonged to Mohammad Idris, who ran a kiosk in the area. Idris’ son Islam was scheduled to get married on Friday and the male members of the family had left for the wedding on Friday morning. The womenfolk and the children had gathered at Idris’ house to welcome the new bride.
Police said the incident took place on the first floor when Idris’ wife Mounsera (45) had gone to the kitchen to flip chapatis. The stove was leaking and in order to fix it, she had removed the nozzle when the gas started to leak. A firecracker-like sound was heard and in no time the flames shot up. Relatives, inside the house and in the building, tried to escape. However, since the stove was near the door, the flames had engulfed it. “I heard a loud bang. I could not save them because the door could not be opened and in seconds the house was in flames,” said Salma, Mounsera’s daughter. The dead have been identified as Munnasira (40) and Mohsin (30), Bhuri (58), Iram (3) and Sara (3). Bodies were shifted to Safdarjung Hospital for autopsy, police added. A case of negligence was registered.