‘Can’t tell them’: Family shields brothers from news of 9 deaths in Delhi's Palam fire

Family members, neighbours and relatives say they don’t have the heart to tell Anil (32) and Sachin (28) that nine members of their family have died.

“How can I tell them that their mother, brothers, sister, sisters-in-law, and three nieces died when they, themselves, are in such a sensitive condition,” said Kaushal Kashyap, a day after two brothers were seriously injured in a fire at their residence in Palam Colony.

A view of the building gutted by fire in Palam (Hindustan Times) (HT_PRINT)

Family members, neighbours and relatives say they don’t have the heart to tell Anil (32) and Sachin (28) the truth as they undergo treatment at two separate hospitals in the city that nine members of their family, which also, in the case of one brother, includes his wife, have died.

“I’ve said all of them are admitted to different hospitals. I don’t have the courage to tell them the truth,” added Kaushal (42).

On Wednesday, a fire ripped through the four-storey residential-cum-commercial building in southwest Delhi, claiming the lives of mother Lado Kashyap (70) and three of her children Kamal (39); Pravesh (33); and Himanshi (22). Kamal’s wife Ashu (35) and their three daughters, Niharika (15) Ivani (6) and Jaisika (3) as well as Anil’s wife, Deepika (28), were also killed in the blaze that has shattered three generations of the family of 19.

Kaushal said he spoke to Deepika over the phone as the fire was raging and she had been begging for help.

“She said, ‘Please come fast. Our house is on fire. I am not able to breathe.’ After this, the phone got disconnected. I could not call them again. My son also tried but nobody picked up,” said Kaushal.

The bodies of Lado and Himanshi, who were on the second floor, were completely charred. Sachin, who was also on the same floor, managed to escape to the terrace through a staircase which was later engulfed in fire. However, he received 25% burns in the process. He is undergoing treatment for the burns on his face, head, chest and hands at the Safdarjung Hospital.

“Lado and his daughter Himanshi were charred beyond identification. Himanshi was identified by her ring. Their bodies were found close to each other inside the second-floor bathroom. Lado had mobility issues...Himanshi probably stayed with her to save her life,” said Kaushal.

Anil and his one-year-old daughter Mitali were waiting for rescue for nearly 90 minutes on a third-floor balcony with the other family members who died.

A police officer on condition of anonymity said that Mitali fell as she was being lowered down from the third floor by her father with a rope made using an electric wire tied to her legs. “The makeshift rope snapped because of the heat of the fire as she was being lowered and she fell before rescuers could catch her.” She has fractures in both legs.

Just three or four minutes later, Anil, himself, fell onto a fire tender stationed beneath the house — possibly because he fainted, according to a neighbour. He has also suffered a serious head injury.

Both him and Mitali are admitted to the Venkateshwar Hospital in Dwarka.

The others on the third-floor balcony likely died due to heavy smoke inhalation, said officials.

Uncle Dharampal (45) said he stayed at Safdarjung Hospital for hours as Sachin underwent surgery.

“Doctors said Sachin is safe but he is hardly able to talk. As soon as he woke up, the first thing he asked was about his mother, siblings and nieces. I told him everyone is fine. We are waiting for his discharge,” said the 45-year-old.

The father of the two brothers, 70-year-old Rajendra, is devastated. On Thursday, he sat outside his burnt house and wept as relatives, friends, politicians, and people from the market and resident welfare associations came to meet him. The family ran a popular shop selling artificial jewellery, cosmetics, undergarments, and clothes in the basement and ground-floor of the 70-year-old building in Ram Chowk Market in Palam Colony’s Sadh Nagar.

The fire, which took seven hours to douse, devastated their home. On Thursday, the building was barricaded by police tape as officials conducted a forensic examination. According to officials, the initial probe shows that the fire was caused by a short-circuit in the grid line between the ground and first floor. However, this will only be confirmed after a formal report by the electricity department.

According to police, late Wednesday evening, there was a second small fire in the building that was quickly doused, possibly caused by one of the items burnt in the first fire.

“I was not here but I have been told there was a lot of delay due to faulty fire tender and other issues,” Rajendra said as he was speaking to HT.

“I received calls from my family who begged for help. I couldn’t do anything as I was in Goa. I called relatives, my neighbours, friends and everyone I knew to come and help. Nothing happened. I have lost everyone I loved. I am devastated as they could not be saved.”

With tears pouring down his face, he lamented, “Everything is ruined now…My wife…my sons…those children are all gone now. This is nothing but a failure of the system. Because of their fault, my family is gone. They all could have been saved.”

Outside the house, a family friend, Vinod Sarware, said that, when he met Anil at the hospital on Thursday, the first thing he did was ask about his family.

“I did not tell him anything. He told me that he had kept Mitali covered with his undershirt to save her. However, when the help did not come, he stood on the edge and screamed. After some time, he lost grip of his toddler and she fell. She got entangled between some cables and then crashed on the ground. He also lost consciousness and fell. He did not jump. He told me that he does not remember how he fell and only remembers seeing his daughter falling,” Sanware said.

Tragically, relatives said, till the night before the fire, Kamal had been in Bali attending a seminar.