Nine members of a businessman’s family, including his 70-year-old wife and three grandchildren aged 15, 6 and 3, were charred after a massive fire broke out in a five-storey residential building in southwest Delhi’s Palam on Wednesday morning.
Two other family members who were trapped after the fire engulfed the only exit route jumped from the third floor after throwing down a one-and-a-half-year-old baby in the hope that the rescuers below would catch her. As there was no safety net in place, she hit the ground but survived miraculously.
The baby suffered fractures in both legs, while her father and uncle suffered injuries to their heads. The three have been admitted to Safdarjung Hospital.
Police said they jumped after a rescue ladder could not reach them.
Locals said that a short circuit in the early hours on Wednesday started the inferno and alleged that the fire brigade reached the spot late despite being alerted.
Raghunandan Sharma, a resident, said: “The short circuit occurred around 6am and it kept spreading. The fire brigade was immediately informed, but they arrived after 40 minutes. Their ladder was not working, and the hydraulic machine also didn’t work properly. If they had arrived on time, the incident could have been less disastrous.”
A neighbour said that a ladder had been placed up to the second floor. Kashyap’s fifth son, Anil, 32, who was on the third floor, attempted to climb down with his daughter, but the ladder did not reach them.
“With the fire flaring up and the situation turning critical, Anil threw his daughter down amid the chaos, hoping someone would catch her. However, the rescue personnel failed to catch her, and the child hit the ground. Moments later, the father also jumped and hit a vehicle parked below, suffering injuries to his head. The child suffered fractures in both legs,” the neighbour said, adding there was no netting or cushioning below.
Anil’s brother Sachin, 29, jumped to an adjacent building to save himself. He has suffered around 25 per cent burn injuries.
The police said the deceased include businessman Rajendra Kashyap’s wife Laado, 70, and the couple’s sons — Kamal, 33, Parvesh, 39, his daughter Himanshi, 22, Kamal’s wife Ashu, 30, and their three daughters, aged 15, 6 and 3, and Kashyap’s third son Sunil’s daughter Deepika, 18.
One of Kashyap’s sons was on a holiday in Shimla with his wife and children.
The police said Kashyap, 72, lived in the four-storey building with his wife, five sons, a daughter, four daughters-in-law and seven grandchildren. The basement, ground floor and first floor of the building have a cloth and cosmetics showroom owned by Kashyap, who is also the head of the market committee. The family lived on the upper floors.
A police officer said Kashyap was not at home as he was travelling for work.
Locals said the fire engulfed the building as the Kashyap family waited to be rescued. Thirty fire engines, 11 ambulances, and teams from the National Disaster Response Force took several hours to douse the blaze.
Visuals from the scene showed thick plumes of black smoke billowing from the building, with flames engulfing most parts of the structure as firefighters battled the
blaze in the congested market area.
A Delhi police officer said a distress call was received around 7am regarding a fire near the Palam Metro station. Despite continuous efforts, the flames raged for nearly three hours, making firefighting operations extremely challenging. The area has been cordoned off and a forensic team called to inspect the spot. The exact cause of the fire is yet to be ascertained.