7 killed as blaze sweeps though Delhi slum

2 children among victims of Gokulpuri blaze

Seven persons, including three minor children, were charred to death and at least two sustained severe injuries after a massive fire broke out in the slums of north-east Delhi’s Gokulpuri early on Saturday.

According to residents of the slums, the blaze broke out around 12 a.m. While many managed to escape the fire, members of two families lost their lives, including five members of one family and two children of another. The victims were identified as Bablu, 35, his siblings Ranjit, 22, and Reshma, 20, Bablu’s son Shahenshah, 11, and sister-in-law Priyanka, 20, Roshan, 13, and his sister Deepika, 10.

The slums are located below the metro line along a drain near the Gokulpuri Metro Station. Around 60 huts were gutted in the fire, the police and locals said.

Salma, 33, whose hut also was burnt, said, “Most of us were sleeping and as soon as we saw the fire, we picked up our kids and ran out. Within a few seconds, everything was over.”

Ms. Salma lives close to the shanties of the two families who lost their loved ones. During the fire, she said, she saw how one family could not escape. “They had all come out but they realized that Shahenshah was still inside so they all ran back to find him but by then, the fire had spread to the exit point and they could not escape,” she said. She added that while five members of the family died, the parents Munni Devi and Rajjan, their son Sujit and a grandson survived.

The residents said fire tenders took at least 90 minutes to reach the site. However, the fire department said that the call was received at 1.03 a.m. after which 13 fire tenders were pressed into service and the fire was doused by 4 a.m. The bodies were recovered during the rescue operation.

Sources said the fire is suspected to have started from an empty plot near the house where the five members died. The police said post mortem of all the victims has been conducted and bodies have been handed over to their families. A case under sections 285A and 304A of the Indian Penal Code has been registered and further investigation is under way.