70-year-old, grandchildren among 9 of family killed in Delhi fire

New Delhi: Nine members of a family were killed and three others injured in a fire in a multi-storey residential building in southwest Delhi's Palam area on Wednesday morning, officials said.

The deceased include a 70-year-old woman and three of her granddaughters, one just three years old. Of the three injured, two had jumped from the building at Ram Chowk Market near Palam Metro Station in a desperate attempt to escape the flames, they said.

The building housed a cloth and cosmetic showroom in the basement, ground and first floors, while its owner, Rajender Kashyap, lived on the second and third floors with his family.

Neighbours said the fire initially started on the first floor but spread quickly, possibly due to the presence of perfumes and other highly inflammable items in the.

Rajender, the local market association president, lived in the building with his wife, Lado, their five sons, a daughter, four daughters-in-law and seven grandchildren.

At the time of the incident, several family members were not present in the house.

Rajender's wife Lado (70), her sons Pravesh (33) and Kamal (39), Kamal’s wife Ashu (35) and their three daughters aged 15, six and three were killed in the blaze. Lado’s daughter, Himanshi (22), and daughter-in-law, Deepika (28), also died in the fire, police said.

Anil (32), son of Rajender and Lado, dropped his two-year-old daughter from the third floor while trying to lower her to the second floor, where there was access to a ladder. Soon, he too jumped. Both sustained injuries and are undergoing treatment, officials said.

Sachin (29), who jumped to an adjacent building to save himself, also sustained injuries and is being treated for around 25 per cent burn injuries at Safdarjung Hospital.

Information regarding the blaze was received at 7.04 am at Palam Village police station, following which teams rushed to the spot. Around 30 fire tenders and 11 ambulances were pressed into service, along with personnel from the police, BSES, Air Force Police and the NDRF, as part of a massive firefighting and rescue operation.

The fire was doused around 2.20 pm, and a cooling operation began after that. The area was cordoned off, and a forensic team was called to inspect the spot. The exact cause of the fire is yet to be ascertained, police said.