A pre-marriage celebration turned into a tragic incident when five members of a family were charred to death and four others were injured after a fire engulfed a shanty in south-east Delhi's Okhla on Monday night.
A call was received around 9.56 pm about a cylinder blast in a tea stall near a shanty, a senior fire officer said.
The fire engulfed a shanty located near the tea stall. Four fire tenders were rushed to the spot and the blaze was brought under control by 10.59 pm, the officer said. There was a marriage function scheduled there for Thursday. The tea stall had been converted into a kitchen.
last night, when dinner was being prepared, the gas cylinder caught fire due to some leakage and there was a blast.
Shobha Singh, who is posted as a security guard nearby, and had alerted the fire department, said, "It is a huge tragedy. A wedding was scheduled to happen here but now there is sadness all around."
He recalled the frantic scene that was witnessed on Tuesday after the cylinder blast. Everyone was pouring water to douse the fire but it kept on blazing, he said. By the time, those who were trapped in the fire were rescued, it was too late, he added.
Five persons, including the groom's mother and brother got trapped inside and could not come out since there was only one entry point to the jhuggi that had caught fire, police said. Four persons, who tried to save those trapped in the fire, were also injured.
The nine people, who were affected by the fire, were identified as the groom Ravikant, his parents Usha and Surender Prasad, his brother Shashikant, his aunts Santra and lalsa, his cousin Khushi, his maternal uncle Guddu and a cousin Jitender. They were immediately rushed to Safdarjung Hospital and ESI Hospitals.
Two injured women, lalsa and Santra were admitted to ESI Hospital, were declared brought dead last night, police said.
Ravikant's (26) brother Shashikant (19) and his six-year-old cousin Khushi were shifted to Safdarjang Hospital where they were declared brought dead. His mother Usha (42) also succumbed to injuries during treatment.
Ravikant, his father Surender (45), Jitender (18) and Guddu (27) are still undergoing treatment at the hospital. Jitender is out of danger and has been discharged while the condition of the other three continues to be critical. Police have registered a case and are probing the incident further.