A devastating fire broke out in the four floors of an apartment building in Delhi’s Vivek Vihar early Sunday morning. As many as nine people died in the fire, while 20 others narrowly escaped and were rescued by local residents and firefighters.
It took 10 fire trucks five hours to complete the rescue operations as approaching the building was hampered due to the complexity of the structure.
Read also: ‘Stuck for an hour and a half, the flames reached our sofas’: Residents recall desperate escape during Vivek Vihar fire in Delhi
Deputy Commissioner of Police (Shahdhara) Rajendra Prasad Meena pointed out that the apartments located at the front and back of the building made access difficult for firefighters.
The youngest victim of the fire was a 1.5-year-old toddler, who was found with four others in the back of the second floor.
Search operations did not begin until after eight in the morning, after the fire had been completely extinguished.
A spokesman for the Field Support Department said: “We searched the houses and found charred bodies. One body from the first floor, five bodies from the second floor, and three bodies from the stairs.”
DCP Meena confirmed that nine bodies had been recovered and added: “Further investigation and procedures are underway at the scene.”
What we know about the victims
Sharing details of the deceased, the police identified one of the victims from the first floor as Shikha Jain (45).
Five people from one family were found on the second floor from the back, and they included a 1.5-year-old toddler, Arvind (60), his wife Anita Jain (58), Nishant Jain (35), and his daughter-in-law Aanchal Jain (33).
“Nishant called several of our relatives at night after the fire incident, seeking help. He kept pleading to be saved,” said Amit Jain, a relative of Nishant.
Another relative said the family, including Nishant and Arvind, attended a family video call and had plans to meet today in Manesar to celebrate the birthday.
Arvind also spoke to his friend Manoj Jani on Saturday night around 12 midnight. But around 3 am, he missed two calls from Nishank.
“I finished my work at around 2:30 am and went to sleep. I had left my phone on silent mode today. When I woke up at 8, I saw two missed calls from Nishak, one at around 3:50 am and the other at 4 am. I will regret not answering those calls all my life,” Manoj told HT.
Read also: ‘Stuck for an hour and a half, the flames reached our sofas’: Residents recall desperate escape during Vivek Vihar fire in Delhi
On the third floor, the victims included members of the same family, including Nitin Jain (about 50 years old), his wife Shelly Jain (48 years old), and their son Samyak Jain (25 years old). Samyak and his father Nitin own Indus Flavors restaurant at Cross River Mall in Shahdara.
One of the injured, identified as Naveen Jain (48), is currently undergoing treatment at a nearby hospital, officials told ANI.
The delivery agent first noticed the fire
The fire was first noticed by a delivery agent who arrived at the building late at night. By the time he understood the seriousness of the situation, it had already escalated rapidly. He told police he initially saw sparks coming from an external AC outlet.
“An explosion in the air conditioner led to the fire,” said Rohit, a local resident. He added that “about 12 to 15 people were rescued,” while “4 to 5 people are still missing.” He said the fire started “at around 03:13 am”, with fire engines arriving “at around 3:35 am”, news agency ANI reported.
Delhi BJP president Virendra Sachdeva also told reporters that the fire started due to a spark in the air conditioning unit.
He added: “Fire services received the first call at 3:45 am, and the first fire brigade arrived at the site at 3:52 am. About 14 fire engines were deployed, and the authorities rescued 20 people.”
However, such sparks in wires, especially at night when people are sleeping, need to be investigated, Sachdeva said.
