Delhi building fire claims 16 lives, more casualties feared
Darpan News Desk IANS, 13 May, 2022 10:24 AM
New Delhi, May 13 (IANS) As many as 16 people have been killed in a major fire that broke out in a three-storey building at the Mundka area of the national capital on Friday afternoon, a Fire Department official said.
"So far we have recovered 16 bodies and the number of casualties is likely to go up," Delhi Fire Service chief Atul Garg told IANS.
However, Delhi Police officials said that as of now, 14 people have been killed in the inferno while 12 people have sustained injuries. According to the police, around 60-70 persons have been rescued from the building.
The top Fire Department official informed that they received a call about the incident at 4.40 p.m. from a building located near Pillar No. 544 in Mundka in west Delhi, after which 10 fire engines were immediately pressed into service.
As per visuals released from the spot, thick fumes of black smoke along with a massive blaze could be seen billowing out of the ill-fated three-storey building. The firemen used the fire truck ladder to reach out to the maximum possible height to spray water over the blaze.
The inferno is yet to be brought under control at the time of filing of this report.
Meanwhile, a senior police officer said that they also received a call about the incident at 4.45 p.m. following which the local police rushed to the spot.
"Police officers broke the windows of the building and rescued many inmates who were rushed to the hospital," the officer said.
Based on preliminary inquiry, the police said it was a three-storey commercial building used for providing office space to companies. The fire first broke out on the first floor of the building which houses a CCTV and router manufacturing company.
The police have detained the owner of the company and his antecedents are being examined. The rescue operation is still going on.
Terming the record-breaking figures a result of the good arrangements, he said the state government was committed to welfare of the farmers and would continue to take all possible steps to facilitate them.
When a foul smell emanated from the car in the morning, the ashram staff opened the vehicle and saw the body inside after which they informed the police. The police reached the spot, took custody of the body and sent it for post-mortem.
On January 12, the BSF had seized heroin, arms and ammunition along the India-Pakistan border in Punjab, allegedly being pushed in by Pakistani-based smugglers.
The fortified rice would be available throughout the TPDS under the National Food Security Act (NFSA), Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS), Pradhan Mantri Poshan Shakti Nirman-PM POSHAN [erstwhile Mid-Day Meal Scheme (MDM)] and Other Welfare Schemes (OWS), a cabinet statement said.
The accused, identified as Prince Emeka Lath (34), a permanent resident of Anambara in Nigeria, was presently residing in Tilak Nagar. He came to India on a tourist visa in January 2017, but even after his visa expired, he neither extended it nor returned to his country.
This was the eighth abstention at the UN by India on a matter involving the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Thursday's abstention by India was a defiance of Russia, which threatened those abstaining.
