1 dies in central Delhi fire, DFS officials hurt

The fire also triggered multiple cylinder blasts inside the building, leading to it partially collapsing, officials said

A woman in her 40s was charred to death after a blaze broke out at a four-storey residential building in the Motia Khan area of central Delhi, police officers and fire officials said on Sunday, adding that two firefighters were injured while battling the flames.

The house that caught fire due to a cylinder blast in Motia Khan, New Delhi, on Sunday (Sanchit Khanna/ HT Photo)

The fire also triggered multiple cylinder blasts inside the building, leading to it partially collapsing, the officials said.

Police said the incident took place at around 3pm on Sunday afternoon, when the deceased, identified as Hemlata Singh, was alone at home. Her family was out buying groceries at the time that the fire broke out.

Fire officials said they suspect Singh was in the kitchen on the ground floor when a cooking cylinder exploded, and a major fire broke out inside the house.

“We received a call about a house fire at 3 pm. We rushed four fire tenders to the spot. The fire was because of an LPG cylinder explosion. As the firefighters were trying to douse the fire and were inside the house, other cylinders in the house exploded. This led to firefighters being injured. Two firefighters were taken to the hospital. They sustained minor burns on their hands and face. They are stable,” Delhi Fire Services chief Atul Garg said.

The blasts also led to part of the first floor to collapse on Singh, whose charred body was later recovered near the debris.

“The woman’s body was completely charred. By the time the fire services arrived, the explosion and fire had engulfed the kitchen area and the woman suffered injuries. We think she was not able to escape as it was a sudden huge explosion while she was working in the kitchen,” an official said, on condition of anonymity.

Fire officials at the spot said the building was illegally constructed and extended to four storeys, and said that they suspect the family was using the space for commercial activities as they found seven cooking cylinders, along with dozens of steel containers and boxes.

“It was extremely vulnerable and could have entirely collapsed due to the fire. We found a charred body of a woman near a kitchen. While firemen were controlling the blazes, other cylinders started exploding. The fire started from one cylinder but there were at least seven cylinders in the house,” the official quoted above said.

Deputy commissioner of police (central) Harsha Vardhan said an enquiry will be conducted, but no first information report was filed at the time of going to print.