5, including toddler, rescued in Shalimar Bagh fire

Five people, including a toddler, were rescued from a fire in a northwest Delhi building; no injuries reported. The fire was caused by an AC explosion.

NEW DELHI: Five people, including a toddler, were rescued after a fire broke out in a residential building in northwest Delhi’s Shalimar Bagh on Thursday morning, fire department officials said. No injuries were reported.

The fire was reported at 10.10am in a house in Shalimar Bagh’s BN Block, officials said (HT)

The fire was reported at 10.10am in a house in Shalimar Bagh’s BN Block, officials said, adding that the building has a parking lot and four floors, with different families living on separate floors.

The fire broke out on the first floor after an air conditioner exploded. While many residents escaped using staircases, five people were trapped. On the second floor, two women – Pinky, 60, and Gitika, 30 – along with a one-year-old boy were stuck. On the third floor, Asha, 76, and her house help Dhara, 30, were trapped.

“Because of the fire, there was a lot of smoke on the staircase, due to which those who were stuck couldn’t climb down at all,” an official said, adding that the fire was doused in around 15 minutes.

Officials said that locals had already arranged and deployed two ladders to rescue those on the first and second floors. Fire operators wearing breathing gear later managed to reach the upper floors and ventilated the staircase, after which all five people were brought down safely, the said.