Couple, 2 minors killed after fire breaks out in east Delhi building; 5 injured

Four people were killed while five others got injured after a fire broke out in a five-storeyed residentital building in Delhi’s Geeta Colony on Thursday morning, police said.
The deceased includes a couple along with their two children.
Nine fire tenders with over 25 fire personnel were pressed into action. The fire was brought under control and people were rescued from all the floors, the Delhi Fire Services (DFS) said.
According to police, a total of nine injured people — two children, four women and three men — were rescued from the building and rushed to Hedgewar hospital near Anand Vihar.
Four of them, including a couple, were declared dead, and both were identified along with their minor children, police said.
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“At 5:22am, police received a call regarding a major fire in a building in Shastri Nagar Gali No-13 near Geeta Colony. Accordingly, the local police, fire tenders, three ambulances and police vans, rushed to the fire spot”, deputy commissioner of police (DCP) (Shahdara) Shankar Chaudhary said.
“It was a residential building having a parking space on the ground floor and four upper floors. The fire started in the parking area and the entire building was filled with smoke. As the building is in a narrow street, firemen somehow reached the fire spot and doused began the firefighting operation. After the fire was controlled, a search operation was conducted on each floor. Nine people were rescued and sent to Hedgewar hospital. Four of them were dead,” added DCP Chaudhary.
DFS chief Atul Garg said a total of nine fire tenders were used in the fire-fighting operation which was carried out in the five-storeyed building.
According to locals, the fire first started in one of the vehicles parked on the ground floor of the building and it spread to other vehicles. The blaze quickly engulfed the entire parking space.
“Some cars in the parking lot caught fire due to a short circuit. Some people, including children, lived in the parking lot. They were trapped. Some people were trapped on the upper floors as well,” Shankar Lal, a local resident, told media persons.
Police said they were trying to ascertain the exact cause of the fire and then take appropriate action if any rule was flouted.