NEW DELHI: Amid thick plumes of smoke and cries for help as a massive fire engulfed a multi-storey building in Rithala, 62-year-old Dilip Singh made a final call to his son, informing him that he wouldn’t survive before the line got disconnected. Dilip’s son, Dharmendra Singh, said his father had been working in the factory as a supervisor for the last five to six years.
“I received a call at 7.41 pm (on Tuesday) from my father who said that he won’t survive as a fire has broken out in the factory. I asked him to come out of the building. He said that I won’t be able to come due to the intensity of the fire. Later, the phone got disconnected. I called one of my relatives, informed him about the incident, and asked him to go to the spot to check what had actually happened,” Dharmendra said.
“When he reached there, he told me that a massive fire engulfed the building and policemen were not allowing anyone to go there. I also reached here around 8.30 am and the body of my father was recovered on Wednesday morning around 10 am. The factory owner is in China and I have spoken to him,” he further said.
He added that the family used to live in the Rohini area and had shifted to Uttam Nagar four years ago. Since the distance was far, his father stayed at the factory and came home only on Sundays.
Sanju Kumari (30), a native of Bihar who works in a unit inside the building, said she escaped by jumping to an adjacent building.
“I live with my family near Rithala metro station in a rented accommodation. I have been working at the unit on the first floor of the building for the past two to three years, while my husband works in a different area. The fire started suddenly, following which people started screaming. I managed to jump to an adjacent building through the balcony. We raised the alarm and somehow managed to come out of the building on time,” Kumari said.
Other survivors were in shock and traumatised. Virendra, a machine operator who was working on the ground floor when the incident took place, said that everyone started running when the fire broke out in order to save their lives. He suffered burn injuries on both legs. others.
Another survivor, Geeta, said the fire had blocked the main gate, forcing her to jump from the first-floor balcony.