Delhi fire tragedy | 29 still missing as death toll likely to rise after more charred remains found

Grieving relatives awaited identification of bodies of the Mundka fire tragedy victims at the Sanjay Gandhi Memorial Hospital at Mangolpuri.

A day after a massive fire in a building in outer Delhi’s Mundka claimed 27 lives, frantic relatives were still searching for their loved ones with police saying that 29 people remained unaccounted for.

According to the fire department, the death toll could increase to 30 as charred human remains were found in the building during cooling operations on Saturday morning. Twelve injured are undergoing treatment at a hospital here.

Chief Fire Officer Atul Garg said that an explosion in an AC may have triggered the fire.

Garg added it was difficult to ascertain whether the remains found on Saturday morning were of one person or more.

Harish Goel and his brother Varun Goel, owners of a CCTV camera and router manufacturing and assembling company, in whose office the fire is suspected to have started, have been arrested, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Outer) Sameer Sharma said.

So far, the DCP said, seven of the 27 deceased have been identified -- Tania Bhushan, Mohini Pal, Yashoda Devi, Ranju Devi, Vishal, Drishti and Kailash Jyani.

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and his deputy Manish Sisodia visited the spot on Saturday. The chief minister announced a compensation of Rs 10 lakh each for the kin of the deceased and Rs 50,000 for those injured in the fire, which started from the first floor of the building.