NEW DELHI: Two women, including a senior citizen, were killed in a fire at a multi-storey building Lal Bagh Colony of Ghaziabad district’s Loni area, while nine others were rescued Monday morning, officials said. All the 11 people, who were trapped in the fire, belonged to the same family. The fire broke out around 5.30 am.
One of the deceased was 74 years old and it is suspected that she died of asphyxiation, while the other, aged around 40, succumbed to burn injuries, a police officer, who oversaw the rescue and relief work, said.
“Both the women were members of the same family. They were taken to a community health centre but did not survive. Their postmortem reports are awaited,” said Rajneesh Upadhiyai, Assistant Commissioner of Police, Loni.
The building belongs to one Satish Pal. The deceased were identified as his mother Bharto Devi and his sister Mamta, who had come to stay with them, the officer said. Chief Fire Officer Rahul Pal said the firefighters were alerted about the incident at 6.52 am, adding that the building housed a tent and catering service on its ground floor.
The two women were found on the first and the second floors of the building, and were taken to the health facility, while nine others were rescued, Pal said. Teams were rushed to the site and two water tenders from Tronica City and one from Sahibabad were sent, Pal said. “There was a major fire in the building’s ground floor where work related to the tent house business was done,” he said.
“Eight people were trapped in the upper part of the building. They were rescued by breaking a wall after the firefighters reached them using an external stair. When the building was further checked, a woman was found injured on the first floor and another on the second floor,” Pal said.
He said the cause of the fire seems to be a short circuit in the building’s ground floor. There was no one present on the ground floor during the time of the incident, he added. Pal said a firefighter was injured in the rescue operation when an iron gate fell on him.
According to police, among those rescued, six were aged below 30 (no children) and the rest above 30.
“The family members were asleep when the fire broke out. Some locals noticed it in the morning. They intervened and tried to help douse the growing blaze but to no avail. Eventually, they alerted the local police station,” ACP Upadhiyai said. “Full force along with firefighters was at the spot before 7 am, and any further delay could have caused a worse tragedy,” the officer added.
Deceased were building owners’ mother, sister
The building where the fire broke out belongs to one Satish Pal. The deceased were identified as his mother Bharto Devi and his sister Mamta, who had come to stay with them. Eight other people were trapped in the upper part of the building.