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3 girl students killed in fire at PG facility in Chandigarh
Three girl students, aged between 19 and 21, have died in a fire that broke out in a paying guest accommodation in Sector 32; two others have been admitted to hospital
Three girl students died and two sustained injuries after a fire broke out in an unregistered paying guest facility
in Sector 32D, Chandigarh, on Saturday.
At least a dozen other girls besides the caretaker and her sister managed to escape unhurt.
The fire broke out on the first floor around 3.30pm. The cause is suspected to be a laptop battery or charger explosion, though police are awaiting the fire department’s report before confirming anything.
The deceased have been identified as Muskan Mehta, Riya and Pakshi Grover, all aged between 19 and 21 years.
Muskan, 21, was from Hisar, Haryana, and was a first-year MCom student at Goswami Ganesh Dutta Sanatan Dharma (GGDSD) College, Sector 32, Chandigarh. Pakshi, 19, was a BA-1 student in the same college and belonged to Kotkapura in Faridkot, Punjab. Riya, 20, belonged to Kapurthala, Punjab, and was attending French classes at Alliance Francaise in Sector 36.
Pakshi and Riya died due to suffocation, though they also suffered burns, while Muskan succumbed to 70% burn injuries. They were declared dead at Government Medical College and Hospital (GMCH), Sector 32.
The two injured students have been identified as Femina, 23, from Fatehabad, Haryana, and Jasmine, 19, from Moga, Punjab. They jumped from the balcony to escape the blaze. Admitted in GMCH, their condition is stated to be stable.
The house is owned by Gaurav Aneja, who runs a confectionary shop in the same sector. However, he had sublet the house to Nitish Bansal and Nitish Popli, who were running the PG facility.
“The three have been booked under Sections 304 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder), 336 (act endangering life of others), 188 (disobedience to order duly promulgated by public servant) and 34 (acts done by several persons in furtherance with common intention) of the Indian Penal Code,” said superintendent of police (SP, city) Vineet Kumar. Bansal has been arrested.
According to police, there were 34 girls staying in the facility, which was unregistered and lacked safety measures. At the time of the incident, only 17 were present, as most had gone home due to the long weekend.
The floor in which fire was reported was divided with polyvinyl chloride (PVC) wall partitions with three rooms having a common entry from an alley.
A PCR vehicle on patrolling duty made a call to the police control room around 3:50pm, informing that a fire had broken out on the first floor of the three-storeyed Sector-32 residential building.
Fire fighters, police and ambulance were rushed to the spot.
Meanwhile, caretaker Babbu and her sister Manpreet raised the alarm, and at least 12 girls, who were sleeping inside, ran out of the house.
“The fire had consumed almost whole building when fire tenders reached there,” said a fire official, requesting anonymity. “The building didn’t have proper ventilation or fire-safety measures to help the girls trapped inside.”
Five fire tenders took half an hour to douse the flames. “The three girls were unconscious when they were rescued. Muskan has suffered burn injuries,” said the official.
According to police and fire officials, the fire was caused due to an explosion in the laptop charging adaptor that was kept on a bed.
The girls stated that either the laptop battery or the charger caught fire, which then spread further due to the flammable PVC panels, bedsheets and other linen.
According to yet another theory shared by an official, there was a power cut in Sector 32, and when the supply resumed, there was a spark in the charging panel due to the voltage surge, leading to the fire.
UT adviser Manoj Kumar Parida has sought a detailed inquiry report about the incident from the deputy commissioner.
“Strict action will be taken against those found guilty,” he said, adding that an audit of all PG facilities in the city will be conducted.
Two jumped from balcony to survive
Femina, 23, was on the top floor of the three-storeyed house and getting ready to go to market when she heard screams coming from the first floor around 3:30pm.
“I heard screams that fire has broken out on the first floor. I went down but then rushed back upstairs to pick up my mobile phone. Soon, there was smoke everywhere and I got stuck,” said Femina, who belongs to Fatehabad in Haryana and is preparing for UGC National Eligibility
Test at a coaching institute in Sector 15.
She then went to the balcony and shouted for help. Someone from a neighbouring house came to his terrace and tried to pull her up. However, she slipped, landed on the tin roof of a small room built on the ground floor and fell unconscious.
Meanwhile, Jasmine, 19, was sleeping in her room on the first floor, when Pakshi came to wake her up.
“I suddenly got up and heard that the laptop charger had exploded and the PVC panel in the room has caught fire,” said Jasmine, who belongs to Moga, Punjab, and studies in GGDSD College. “Pakshi and I tried to escape through the stairs, but there was smoke everywhere and fire had escalated.”
The two then ran towards the balcony. “While I jumped down, Pakshi said she was going to pull out Riya, who was in the washroom on the first floor,” she said.
Both Pakshi and Riya died of suffocation.
Muskan Mehta, 21, who succumbed to 70% burn injuries, earlier made a frantic call to her father to inform him that fire had engulfed her room and there was no way out. After this, the phone got disconnected.
Muskan’s father, Rajeev Mehta, who is an advocate in Hisar, quickly called his brother Dinesh, who resides in Sector 20.
“I rushed to the spot and helped the fire officials locate my niece, but we had lost her,” said Dinesh. Firefighters claimed that Muskan tried to hide herself under the bed, but it proved futile.
Dr Harish Dasari, chairperson of emergency services at GMCH said Riya, Muskan and Pakshi were brought dead to the hospital. “Muskan died due to 70% burn injuries, while the other two died of smoke inhalation and had also received a substantial amount of burn injuries,” he said.
On the two girls who had jumped from the balcony, he said: “They have not received any critical injury. All emergency medical tests have been conducted and they are fine. They will be discharged soon.”
