One of four Delhi fire victims identified, DNA testing underway for others

Rithala fire claims four lives, including 62-year-old Dilip Singh; DNA tests ongoing for three unrecognizable victims. Investigation into fire's cause underway.

The police on Thursday identified one of four victims of the Rithala fire as 62-year-old Dilip Singh, who worked and resided on the topmost floor of the four-storey building.

It was so severe, and the building was located in a cramped lane, that it took over 100 firefighters 13 hours to quell the blaze. (Sanjeev Verma/HT Photo)

DNA testing of samples collected from relatives of three other missing persons—Neelam Devi, 50, Lalita Devi, 40, and Rakesh Arora, 69—was underway to determine if the charred remains belonged to them, police said.

“DNA samples of family members of four people who were reported missing after the fire were called to Dr Baba Saheb Ambedkar Hospital for their DNA samples to be matched with that of the deceased. While one body—which wasn’t fully charred—was identified by a family, the other three were unrecognisable,” a senior police officer said.

Four people died and three persons were injured in a blaze that broke out around 7.30pm on Tuesday at an illegal four-storey factory building, Rana Complex, in Budh Vihar, Rithala. It was so severe, and the building was located in a cramped lane, that it took over 100 firefighters 13 hours to quell the blaze.

Plastic and readymade bags were manufactured on the ground and first floors, perfumes were manufactured on the second, and disposable goods were stored on the third and fourth floors, officials said. Survivors reported that the fire originated from the office on the mezzanine floor, situated between the ground and first floors, and spread upward. Police said they are conducting a probe to ascertain the cause of the fire.

Police said that Lalita’s daughter Pooja Kumari, 19, visited the hospital to give her a DNA sample on Thursday.

Lalita’s husband Radha Prasad, 42, said that they kept looking for her until Wednesday morning at the site and then went to RML Hospital in the hope that she was alive. “People told us that some were taken to RML Hospital for treatment but we found out none of them were women. In the evening, we were called by the police for a DNA test,” he said.

Prasad said that he had yet to tell their nine-year-old son that his mother may have died. “He can’t stop crying and faints after every spell...I have told him she is in the hospital and will come back,” he said.