Rescuers used wet mufflers, masks to enter dingy house in Delhi’s Shastri Park

While the local rescuers were giving way to the fire department towards the end of the operation, they spotted a young couple lying motionless near the door of their room in the second floor. One of the occupant said it looked like the couple made a last-ditch attempt to escape, but were too late

New Delhi

Police personnel outside the house at Shastri Park, Delhi, on Friday. While victims said that the fire began between 8am and 8.30am, the police and the fire department said they received a call only at 9am. (Vipin Kumar/ Hindustan Times)

When a fire broke out in a four-storey building in north-east Delhi’s Shastri Park on Friday morning, there were no immediate heroes. Locals did switch on a motor or two, and used hose pipes to attempt fighting the fire, but no one dared to make a dash into the building in which at least two dozen occupants were suspected to be trapped.

“The smoke and the flames frightened me,” said Akbar Ali, one of the six brothers who owned the house. Akbar had rescued six of his children from the ground floor, but knew that his brothers’ families and many tenants were trapped on the upper floors.

Suddenly Akbar picked up a towel and wrapped it around his face, and asked a hose pipe to be turned towards him. Drenched in water from top to bottom, he tore through the smoke to access the first floor.

Seconds later, he led his brother Azmat, sister-in-law Nazmeen and their 14-year-old daughter Soni alive out of the fire. Akbar knew that this was just the start of a long day. “Azmat’s three children were still stuck inside. They needed me,” said Akbar.

While victims said that the fire began between 8am and 8.30am, the police and the fire department said they received a call only at 9am. “It seems the fire burnt for sometime before they alerted us,” said Joy Tirkey, deputy commissioner of police (north-east).

Atul Garg, director of Delhi Fire Service, said that the path leading to the accident spot was blocked for vehicles due to some ongoing civic works. “We had to park our fire tenders 500 metres away and drag the pipes all the way. The spot couldn’t be accessed even by motorcycles, so a delay was inevitable,” said Garg.

By then, more people from the neighbourhood gathered courage.

Akbar’s brother, Haseen, and neighbour Feroze Khan, followed him into the burning building. When the rescuers brought out Azmat’s two other children without much harm, the couple thought their family of six had survived the tragedy.

But they were wrong.

“I thought that our three-year-old son Hamza was with my husband. My husband thought that our boy was with me,” said Nazmeen, one of her children with soot still fresh on his body seated next to her. By the time the couple realised their mistake, it was too late. Azmat with burns on his limb, and his wife trembling in fear, begged Akbar and Haseen to save the trapped boy. “Hamza was barely breathing when I found him lying unconscious in the room,” said Akbar. The boy turned out to be the only child of the six persons killed in Friday’s fire.

The rescuers, however, didn’t have the time to mourn. At least 12-15 persons were still trapped inside. The dense smoke emanating from the burning mattresses and other household items were only making it difficult for the occupants.

“An occupant of one room kept screaming that the smoke didn’t allow him visibility to locate the door latch,” said Feroze Khan. There were some others who made things difficult for themselves by bolting their doors from inside to escape the flames but got trapped in the smoke.

“I could see disoriented and panic-struck people running haphazardly in the smoke. They couldn’t spot the staircase, and were ending up repeatedly dashing against the walls,” said Akbar. The rescuers too had faced lack of visibility in their first rescue attempt and had rushed out to gather torches before going in again.

“Some people were begging us for help. Some could barely speak. There was one tenant who took God’s name and just blindly jumped through flames and smoke to eventually escape unhurt,” said Akbar.

While the rescuers brought out children either in their arms or by holding them firmly, they didn’t have the opportunity with the adults. “I had already seen my nephew succumb to the smoke early on in the rescue. So, I just shoved people to safety. Those who were frightened and reluctant, I pushed them down the stairs,” said Akbar. “At that moment, I didn’t bother if they would get injured while being pushed down the stairs. I thought to myself that they would eventually recover from the injuries if they survived death,” Akbar added.

While the local rescuers were giving way to the fire department towards the end of the operation, they spotted a young couple lying motionless near the door of their room in the second floor. “It looked like the couple, Dinesh, 26, and Nisha, 25, made a last-ditch attempt to escape, but we were too late for them,” said Haseen.

On Friday afternoon, as local politicians made a beeline to comfort them, and local policemen told them that they would attempt to help them receive a monetary compensation, the family said they didn’t expect anything. “We will rebuild our homes, but will never be able to cope with six deaths in one house,” said Akbar’s wife, Shabnam.