Seven of family, including three children, killed in fire at Delhi building

Seven members of a family, including three children, died after a fire broke out in a multi-storey residential building in southwest Delhi’s Palam area on Wednesday morning, officials said.

Two people jumped from the building in a bid to escape the flames and were admitted to hospital, they said.

A massive firefighting and rescue operation involving 30 fire tenders was launched after the Delhi Fire Service (DFS) received a call about the blaze around 7 am from a house located in a building near Palam Metro Station.

“Information was received about a fire in a residential unit, and we feared some people might be trapped inside. Rescue operations were launched immediately,” a DFS officer said.

The second and third floors of the five-storey building were residential units.

Visuals from the scene showed thick plumes of black smoke billowing out of the building and rising into the sky, while flames engulfed portions of the structure.

Seven people, including three children, were taken out of the building by DFS personnel and rushed to a nearby hospital, where they were declared dead, officials said.

Two others jumped out of the building due to the flames and are currently under treatment at a hospital, they said.

According to Delhi Fire Services (DFS), the building had a basement and five floors, with a temporary tin shed on the roof. The basement, ground and first floors were being used for storage of clothes and cosmetics, while the second and third floors were residential units.

Firefighters carried out intensive search and rescue operations in the smoke-filled building after navigating the congested locality. Cooling operations were underway at the time of filing this report, while teams continued to search the premises to ensure no one remained trapped, officials said.

In videos circulating online, people could be seen gathering in the narrow lanes near the building as firefighters battled the blaze using hoses and ladders.

Police and other emergency services cordoned off the area to facilitate the firefighting operation. The cause of the fire is yet to be ascertained. Further details are awaited.

(With inputs from agencies)