NEW DELHI: Eight lives were lost in the fire that engulfed a slum cluster early on Saturday, said anguished family members of those killed, counting the unborn child of a woman who died in the blaze in northeast Delhi's Gokulpuri.
Priyanka was around five months pregnant, said her relative Pradeep as he tried to calm others who lost their homes and family members in the incident.
Scenes of panic and chaos unfolded as the fire spread through the slum, gutting several shanties, recalled residents.
"Our life turned upside down within a few minutes. Not only did we lose our loved ones but also our savings," said a family member of one of the deceased.
The Delhi Fire Services (DFS) said seven bodies were recovered.
Roshan (13) and his sister Dipika (9) and five of a family -- Babloo (32), Ranjit (25), Reshma (18), Priyanka (20) and Shahansha (10) -- were killed in the blaze in Gokulpuri village, a DFS official said.
Ranjit, Babloo and Reshma were siblings.
Shahansha was Babloo's son and Priyanka was Babloo's brother Sujit's wife.
"Priyanka got married seven months ago and was around five months pregnant. She was living with her in-laws for the past two months. We all live in the same area. While Babloo was an ear cleaner, Sujit used to work at a factory," Pradeep said.
It is a big loss, the 33-year-old, whose shanty was also gutted in the fire, said, adding that they have been staying Gokulpuri for the past 20-25 years.
"We still cannot believe that five members of our family are no more," Pradeep said.
Roshan and Dipika's grandfather Santu, who also works as an ear cleaner, said that he lived with his son Pintu, daughter-in-law Roma and grandchildren Roshan, Dipika, Rashmi and Muskan.
"I lost two of my grandchildren. While we escaped, they got trapped in the fire," said the 58-year-old.
"We went to sleep around 10.30 pm and the incident took place around 12.30 am. We have no idea how and from where the fire started," he said.
Santu said that his family lived in Seelampur and moved to Gokulpuri when former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi was assassinated.
"The situation worsened there at that time and we managed to escape that area. Since then, we have been living here (Gokulpuri)," he said.
Santu said that he also lost the jewellery and cash which he had saved for his 21-year-old daughter Ruby's marriage on March 20.
"This fire has taken everything," he said, adding that they paid Rs 1,000 as rent but did not have basic facilities like individual toilets.
Last year too around Holi, a fire broke out in a nearby plot.
But because it was in the afternoon, no casualties were reported, Santu said.
Sixty-year-old Chhoti, a ragpicker, said that though she has lost her home, she was grateful to God that her family is safe.
However, she wondered how she would marry off two granddaughters, with all savings lost to the fire.
Dipika and Roshan's aunt Suman said that had the water pump been switched on in time, then the lives of the children could have been saved.
"People tried to douse the fire with the help of water in small containers, but the blaze was massive and they were also scared," she said.
Thirteen fire tenders were rushed to the spot, a DFS official said, adding that the blaze was brought under control around 4 am.
Forensic officials, who joined the DFS in the probe to ascertain the cause of the fire, said preliminary findings suggest that the fire could have started from a burning cigarette butt or a bidi.
There were some cardboards behind one of the shanties and it is suspected that someone could have thrown a burning cigarette or bidi there, causing the fire, the officials said.
Seven charred bodies were recovered from the site, the DFS official said, adding that of about 60 shanties, 30 were completely gutted.
Some people suffered minor injuries in the incident, police said.
Preliminary findings also suggest that people got trapped as the fire engulfed shanties rapidly even those at the main entry gate, the official said.
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has announced a compensation of Rs 10 lakh for the kin of the adults killed in the incident and Rs 5 lakh in case of the deaths of the children.
The Delhi government will give Rs 25,000 as financial assistance to those whose shanties were gutted.