E-Paper
Two members of family die in Ludhiana building fire
Blaze broke out in hosiery stock on ground floor, producing thick smoke that engulfed the first floor, where family stayed. Firefighters rescued other family members.
A 75-year-old bedridden woman, her 18-year-old grandson and their pet dog died of asphyxiation due to smoke when a fire broke out in a hosiery factory-cum-residence near Bharat Nagar Chowk petrol pump in Ludhiana on Wednesday, police said.
The fire started from the ground floor of the building, which had been converted into a hosiery godown by Chopra Industries, the police said, adding dense smoke from the burning fabric rapidly spread through the building, engulfing the house within minutes and trapping the victims inside.
The victims were identified as Rani Chopra,75, who was paralysed and bedridden, and her grandson, Garv Chopra, who was unable to escape in time. The family’s pet dog also died in the incident.
A total of eight members of the Chopra family lived on the first floor of the building. The rest were rescued by fire brigade personnel.
The fire department received an emergency call at 8.40am and three fire tenders were rushed to the spot. It took them nearly three hours to control the blaze.
According to fire officials, the stock of hosiery material on the ground floor was highly inflammable and produced dense smoke.
Preliminary reports suggested the fire was caused by a short circuit.
Garv was the son of Rajan and Ritu Chopra, while their daughter lives abroad. Rajan’s brother Rajat, his wife Mamta and their sons were present in the house at the time of the incident and were rescued safely.
One of the fire officials, Vijay Kumar, said, “Our team responded promptly and prevented the fire from spreading to adjoining buildings.” He had also fallen unconscious after inhaling the smoke in the rescue operation.
Fire officials had evacuated nearby houses as a precautionary measure.
