Two minors died due to suffocation after fire broke out on the first floor of their four-storey building in Abul Fazal Enclave of South-East Delhi at 1 pm on Tuesday.
The deceased were identified as house owner Ehsaan’s daughter Aisha (6) and his nephew Ziyad (5). Ehsaan
runs a furniture showroom in the basement and ground floor of the building. Police said short circuit behind the fire incident.
"A police control room received a call about fire in a building in Abul Fazal enclave. A police team that had reached the spot and found the two children were injured and they were immediately shifted to the nearby Holi Family Hospital, said Chinmoy Biswal, the Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP), South-East district adding that the children succumbed to their injuries during the treatment at hospital.
"Some women members of the family were present at the time of incident and were rescued by the police team and locals. But the two children got trapped on second floor as the blaze had engulfed the stairs and they could not be rescued on time," said a police official privy to investigation.
According to a senior official of Delhi Fire Services (DFS), a call was received about thefire at around 1.30 PM. "After the call six fire tenders, four ambulances and one vehicle of District Disaster Management Authority (DDMA) were rushed to the spot," said a senior DFS official.
"The building's first floor was completely burnt but the fire tenders managed to control the fire on the second floor and rescued people living on the second and third floors," said the DFS official.