Neighbours of the family that got trapped in a fire in Delhi's Palam area said they made frantic attempts to get them out by attempting to break windows and a portion of the wall of the building, while others alleged that the malfunctioning equipment of firefighters delayed their rescue.
The multi-storey building near Ram Chowk Market, close to the Palam Metro Station, has been gutted from the inside as nine members of the family that lived there, including three children, were killed in the blaze on Wednesday, with three others injured.
The building had a cloth and cosmetic showroom on the ground and first floors, while the family of the owner, Rajender Kashyap, lived on the second and third floors.
A man along with his one-and-half-year-old daughter jumped from the third floor in a desperate attempt to save themselves after a rescue ladder could not reach them.
During their attempt to escape the fire, the child sustained fractures in both legs, while her father suffered injuries to his head, and both of them are admitted in Safdarjung Hospital.
Narrating the incident, a neighbour said that a ladder had been placed up to the second floor. 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 suddenly and the situation turning critical, Anil tried to lower the child while holding her, and amid the chaos, the child slipped from his grasp and fell, sustaining fractures in both legs," the neighbour said.
They also alleged that there was no netting or cushioning below. When some people tried to jump, they fell straight to the ground.
Locals said a flower-seller alerted the neighbours after spotting the fire around 6.30 am. Police said information about the blaze was received at around 7:04 am at Palam Village police station, following which teams rushed to the spot.
Kamal, a school cab driver, said around 40 people, including locals and fire personnel, attempted to break open the shutter of the showroom to rescue those trapped inside. The shutter now lays completely broken due to the fire, with electrical wiring visibly burnt.
Kamal alleged that the fire brigade faced technical issues on arrival.
"When the fire brigade arrived, it was unable to operate its equipment due to a malfunction in the pressure system. Had the equipment worked on time, some people would have been saved," he said.
People made repeated attempts to reach those trapped before additional fire tenders could arrive. The fire office said 30 fire tenders in total were deployed for the operation.
Raghunandan Sharma, who owns a garment shop nearby, recounted the sequence of events. He was informed about the fire by his son.
"By the time I reached, the fire had already spread. I started shouting for people to run upstairs. Someone shouted back that they were stuck," he said.
He said they went to the terrace of the adjacent house and broke a wall common to both buildings using hammers.
"We went to the top of the adjacent building and tried to get inside from there, but the smoke was so dense that we couldn't enter," Sharma said.
They also tried to break a front-facing window of the burning building. Their efforts were unsuccessful as the smoke was too dense, he said.
"When the fire brigade arrived, their hydraulic machine did not work for around 45 minutes. Another fire tender took around 50 minutes to arrive, and because of that delay, people had to try going up themselves," Sharma said.
If the fire brigade's hydraulic system had worked on time, the tragedy could have been prevented, he added.
Neighbours who were also involved in the rescue operation said the smoke was so dense that no one could see anything and it kept getting denser.
Police were also involved in breaking a portion of the wall from the adjacent house. "We all tried together and managed to break a part of the wall, but the smoke was so dense that it was impossible to even take a single step inside," a neighbour said.
Officials said they are probing the cause of the fire and looking into allegations of delays and malfunctioning firefighting equipment.
The neighbours also said the goods stored in the building contributed to the rapid spread of the fire.
"Since the family ran a shop dealing in undergarments and cosmetics, which is highly flammable, the fire spread rapidly. The house was packed with goods and had little to no ventilation," a neighbour said.
Residents described the victims as part of a large joint family. They said the household included an elderly couple, their sons and daughters-in-law, and several grandchildren.
Some family members were away at the time of the incident, including one son who was travelling abroad and another whose family had gone to Shimla.
Sharma added that Kashyap's wife was physically disabled and used a wheelchair, which may have made evacuation more difficult.
Kashyap, he said, is the market president and had been elected twice consecutively. "He was a very good and friendly person, his family was very sociable and always stood by others in their times of sorrow." "All of his children were involved in handling their business, while the daughters-in-law were homemakers," he added.
As part of a massive firefighting and rescue operation, around 30 fire tenders and 11 ambulances were pressed into service, along with personnel from the police, BSES, Air Force police and the NDRF.
The fire has since been doused, officials said, adding that the area has been cordoned off and a forensic team has been called to inspect the spot.
