Fire in East Delhi kills 4 of a family

Four members of a family, including a seven-year-old boy, died of burn injuries and suffocation they suffered in a fire which broke out at their house in northeast Delhi’s Dilshad Garden area on Tuesday morning.

According to the police, the deceased have been identified as Pradeep Jaiswal (59), his son Rajan (34), daughter-in-law Anuja (33), and grandson Anshul (7).

“There were six persons in the house at the time of the incident which took place at about 5.45 am,” said a senior police officer, adding, “Although four of the family succumbed to their injuries, Mr Jaiswal’s wife Saroj and their daughter Selja survived the blaze and are undergoing treatment.”

The police said after receiving the call about the incident at about 5.50 am on Tuesday, a team from the local police station rushed to the spot and all six family members were taken to the Guru Teg Bahadur Hospital, where four of them were declared brought dead.

The police added that from initial investigations it is suspected that the fire originated from a short circuit in the family’s dry-cleaning shop at the front of their residence. “There was a container of petrol in the shop which could have aggravated the fire as it took fire tenders more than an hour to douse the flames following which a cooling operation was launched,” said the senior police officer, adding, “Seven fire tenders were pressed into action.”

Sourav Sehgal, a resident of the area, heard the cries of Selja and Saroj who were shouting for help and slamming their door from inside.

“The family was building another house which was close to their residence. We broke the door of their new house and got inside from where Saroj and Selja were saved,” Mr Sehgal claimed. “When they came out, they said that their were more four people inside the house who needed to be saved.”

Talking about the fire, the neighbours of the family said that the blaze spread quickly in the house and even some vehicles were gutted in fire.

Eyewitnesses further claimed that Rajan tried his best to save his father, wife and son but during this process he was unable to save them and soon died of suffocation. Pradeep was caught by fire in his office when he had gone to save his dog.

“A case have been registered and all of them died due to suffocation,” said a police official, adding that during the initial investigation the police did not find any foul play.