New Delhi: As many as seven people lost their lives in a fire that broke out in the shanties of the Gokulpuri area on Friday night. As informed by the Delhi Fire Service department, the fire was brought under control well in time in the wee hours of Saturday. 13 fire tenders rushed to the site after being alerted about the incident. Prima facie, it appears that the fire was caught in around 60 shanties, burning down 30 of them to complete ashes, the officials informed.
7 dead fire break-out in shanties of Gokulpuri area in Delhi, CM Kejriwal offers compensation Three children and a pregnant woman were among the seven killed, with a preliminary probe suggesting that the fire could have started from a burning cigarette butt or a bidi. Roshan (13) and his sister Dipika (9) and five of a family -- Babloo (32), Ranjit (25), Reshma (18), Priyanka (20) and Shahansha (10) -- were killed in the blaze in Gokulpuri village, information about which was received at 1:03 am, an official of the Delhi Fire Services (DFS) said. Relatives of Priyanka said that she was five months pregnant.
The police found some cardboards behind one of the shanties and it is suspected that someone could have thrown a burning cigarette or bidi there, causing the fire, forensic officials said. Those injured in the incident are being treated, police said.
Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, who personally met the families of the victims, assured them financial aid for their loss. He announced a compensation of rs 10 lakh for the families who lost their breadwinners, Rs 5 lakh for the families that lost their children, and Rs 25 thousand to those whose huts were burnt. He further assured that the compensation will be issued in a week or two. Meanwhile, PM Modi and President Ramnath Kovind also expressed grief over the matter via Twitter and prayed for strength to the victims' families.
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The CM had also taken to Twitter to express grief over the loss of lives this morning. In a tweet posted on his official account in Hindi today, he said, "The incident of fire in Gokulpuri is very sad. I reached the spot and met the victims' families, many people lost their homes and loved ones in this accident. The government will give Rs 10 lakh to the families of the deceased, Rs 5 lakh to the families of the deceased children and Rs 25,000 to those whose houses are burnt."
"Our world turned upside down within a few minutes. Not only did we lose our loved ones but also money and jewellery that we had saved," said one of the deceased's family members. Roshan and Dipika's grandfather Santu said, "We went to sleep around 10.30 pm and the incident took place around 12.30 am on Saturday. We have no idea how and from where the fire started. Though family members managed to escape, Roshan and Dipika got trapped in the blaze," the 58-year-old said.
Speaking to the media this morning, Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police of North East Delhi, Devesh Kumar Pandey said, "At 1 am today, there was a fire incident reported in Gokulpuri Police Station area. Immediately after gathering information, our teams reached the spot with all the rescue equipment. We also contacted the fire department which responded very well. We all managed to douse the fire by around 4 am. Almost 30 shanties have been burned down and seven people lost their lives," he added. The police also said that a case under Indian Penal Code sections 285 (negligent conduct with respect to fire or combustible matter) and 304A (causing death by negligence) has been registered at the Gokulpuri Police Station.
(With agency inputs)
