Four individuals have been arrested in connection with the incident at the three-storey commercial building where a tragic fire claimed at least 15 lives in Lucknow's Aliganj, police said on Monday night. The accused are joint owners of the building, officials said.
Preliminary information suggested the fire may have started in the building's AC duct and the smoke led to suffocation due to the absence of a proper exit route, UP Urban Development and Energy Minister A K Sharma said, adding possible lapses in building standards would be probed.
The four accused who have been arreested were named- Ram Krishna Upadhyay, Virendra Prasad Shukla, Tushak Krishna Jaiswal and Suresh Kumar Sahoo. Further legal action is underway.
Four officials have also been suspended, including officials from the electricity department, fire department and Lucknow Development Authority.
"On the directions of Uttar Pradesh chief minister, four persons have been suspended with immediate effect. They are: Gaurav Kumar (Executive Engineer Collection of Electricity Department), Kamlendra Kumar Singh, FSSO (Fire Department) Indira Nagar, Anil Kumar AE (LDA), and Pramod Kumar JE(LDA)," the UP government said in a statement.
Lucknow Development Authority issues demolition notice for Aliganj building after the fire tragedy; however, the three-storey commercial building was issued a demolition order in 2016 over unauthorised construction, but the order was revoked less than two months later, the UP government has said in a statement.
The building, located in Sector D of the upscale Aliganj Scheme locality, was originally allotted on July 11, 1980, to Vijay Kumar, son of Rameshwar Sahay, under a hire-purchase scheme through a lottery system.
Following the execution of the agreement on November 4, 1980, possession of the property was handed over to the allottee.
In 2005, the property was registered in the names of Vijay Kumar and his wife, Usha, through a sale deed. They subsequently sold the property to Virendra Pratap Shukla and Surendra Pratap Shukla on January 19, 2013.
However, unauthorised construction was later found on the premises. The Lucknow Development Authority subsequently registered a case against Virendra Pratap Shukla.
Following an investigation, a demolition order was issued against the unauthorised construction on May 10, 2016.
However, two months after the demolition order was issued, it was revoked on July 5, 2016, raising questions about the circumstances under which the decision was reversed, the statement said.
Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath on Tuesday cancelled almost all his scheduled programmes, including visits to Hathras and Agra, in the wake of the fire tragedy in Lucknow, in which at least 15 people were killed and several others injured, officials said.
The ruling BJP in Uttar Pradesh also announced the suspension of all its organisational programmes scheduled for Tuesday, expressing condolences to the families of those who lost their lives in the incident.
The fire broke out on Monday afternoon in the commercial building housing an animation centre and a pet shop in Aliganj's Sector D area.
Mostly young students who were attending classes at the centre were among the deceased. Many victims were trapped inside as flames and smoke engulfed the building.
Eyewitnesses said several people jumped out of the building, which was completely gutted in the fire. Some people were seen rappelling down the wires to escape the blaze.The victims had to be brought out from the terrace of an adjoining building, where rescue teams had to drill two large openings into the affected building to gain access while the fire was still raging.
Panic-stricken friends and family members of victims, who rushed to the site after receiving frantic calls for help from inside, pleaded with rescuers to save their kin.
Around two dozen cats and dogs at a pet facility located on the ground floor and basement were also caught in the fire but most of them were rescued in time, except four or five animals in the basement.
Nineteen fire tenders, the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), the State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) and other rescue personnel were deployed to douse the blaze reported at around 3 pm.
"A total of 22 people were brought to the Trauma Centre of King George's Medical University (KGMU) following the incident. Of them, 15 were declared brought dead, while five injured persons were admitted for treatment and their condition was stable," King George Medical University (KGMU) PRO Prof K K Singh told PTI.
"Due to two children jumping, they suffered back injuries, so they are also being treated after CT scans and other procedures," said Dr Anil Agrawal, medical superintendent at the trauma centre.
The deceased were identified as Sagar, Nilesh, Anamika, Sanyam, Anuchha, Sukhmani, Aditya Srivastava, Jyoti, Bhavishya, Abdul Rehman, Suraj Bhaar, Sehjan, Jaynil Chakraborty, Mohammad Ammar and Sumalya, according to a list issued by the hospital.
Later, the KGMU PRO said, "Six injured persons have been discharged, while two are undergoing treatment." Those who have been discharged are Gaurav Kumar, Bhuvan Srivastav, Abhishek, Shailendra, Pankaj Goswami and Pankaj Joshi, the PRO said.
"Two others, Lav Preet and Jayant, are still admitted," the official said, adding that another injured identified as Mohammad Asif who had sustained minor injuries was discharged earlier after getting first-aid.
A day after the tragedy, a crowd gathered outside the building. Police personnel cordoned off the premises and restricted entry, while some locals and media persons reached near the damaged structure to capture visuals.
Local residents expressed concern over the operation of commercial establishments in the residential area, alleging that several such buildings may not meet fire safety norms.
"This is like a ticking time bomb. If commercial buildings continue to operate in residential areas by ignoring rules, the consequences can be disastrous," local resident Hemant Srivastava said.
Municipal workers were also seen removing water accumulated in the basement and other parts of the building following firefighting operations.