NEW DELHI: A 64-year-old man was killed early Saturday after a fire broke out at the ground floor of a building following an LPG cylinder blast in west Delhi’s Tilak Nagar area. The deceased had allegedly shared a suicide note on WhatsApp and uploaded a video before the incident.
According to the fire department, they were informed about the incident at 3.27 am and four fire engines were pressed into job to douse the blaze at Sahapura in Tilak Nagar.
The fire was brought under control around 4.30 am. The blaze was on the ground floor of a building house and an LPG cylinder exploded.
A senior police officer said that after receiving the information, police immediately reached the spot. After dousing the fire, a male body in a severely burnt condition was found inside the premises.
The deceased was identified as Vijay. He had been residing alone at the rented accommodation for the last five years. He was a divorcee and used to create and upload vlogs on YouTube, the officer said.
During preliminary inquiry, it also came to notice that prior to the incident, the deceased had allegedly shared a WhatsApp suicide note and uploaded a video on YouTube wherein he stated that it was his last video, the officer said.
As per preliminary information provided by fire department personnel, the fire appeared to have occurred following a cylinder blast. The crime team and FSL team were called to inspect the spot. The body has been preserved at DDU Hospital for post-mortem examination. Further investigation to ascertain the exact cause and circumstances of the incident is in progress, police added.
A local resident recalled the terrifying moments when the incident took place.
“We were asleep when we suddenly heard a loud blast. Our family members woke us up and told us to get up quickly, thinking that an earthquake had occurred. But when we looked outside, we realised that it was not an earthquake. A fire had broken out in the house next to ours. We later learned that a gas cylinder had exploded,” he said.
Ankit, who lived on the upper floor of the same building, said he woke up after hearing a loud explosion at around 3 am.
“At first, we could not understand what had happened. We thought there might have been an explosion involving an electric pole or perhaps an air conditioner. During the summer, the electricity load increases, so we initially suspected that the incident could have been related to an electrical fault or an AC blast,” Ankit said.
However, when Ankit and others came downstairs, they saw flames coming out of the ground-floor portion of the building.
“We immediately realised that the situation was serious and called the fire brigade. While we were waiting for the firefighters to arrive, there was another blast. Everyone panicked and ran away from the spot to ensure their safety,” he said.
The fire brigade subsequently arrived at the scene and began efforts to extinguish the blaze. After the fire was brought under control, firefighters and emergency personnel recovered a body from the flat and took it to the hospital, he added.