Noida slum fire toll now three, more critical

Rizwan (who goes by one name), 32, was a daily wage labourer and was admitted to Delhi’s Safdarjung Hospital after the fire broke out at his home due to a cylinder blast in Noida’s Sector 8 in the early hours of Sunday

Noida

The fire broke out early on Sunday in Sector 8 due to cylinder explosion. (Sunil Ghosh/HT PHOTO)

The death toll in the tragic Noida slum fire which killed two children, including a newborn, on Sunday reached three after their father succumbed to his injuries on Monday morning, officials said.

Rizwan (who goes by one name), 32, was a daily wage labourer and was admitted to Delhi’s Safdarjung Hospital after the fire broke out at his home due to a cylinder blast in Noida’s Sector 8 in the early hours of Sunday.

Three members of the family — Rizwan’s wife Shabana, 30, his eight-year-old son Armaan and their relative Nisha, 20 — were also injured in the incident and were currently undergoing treatment.

“Doctors at the hospital said that Rizwan had suffered over 80% burns in the blast and died at around 8am on Monday. Meanwhile, Shabana and Nisha are still critical as they have suffered 70% burn injuries and Shabana is on ventilator support. Their son Armaan suffered 20% burn injuries and is currently out of danger,” said Ashutosh Dwivedi, additional deputy commissioner of police, Noida.

The family of six was living in a small room in the paved slum when the fire broke out at their home at around 2.52am on Sunday. The couple’s 12-year-old son, Ahad, and 12-day-old daughter, Ariba, died in the blast.

According to Noida chief fire officer (CFO), Pradeep Kumar Chaubey, inspection found that the fire broke out due to a leakage in the cooking gas cylinder.

“Prima facie, the cause of the fire seems to be due to leakage in the gas cylinder and it exploded at night. The cylinder was found burst with a fisheye hole opening. It seems that the mother of the child had woken up at night to warm some milk on the stove and since the cylinder was leaking, it exploded as soon as the flame was lit for the stove. The whole room was charred due to the explosion. A loud blast was also heard by the locals,” he said.

Rizwan was the sole earning member of the family of six, said his father Zafaruddin, 68, who came to Noida from their native town in Aligarh on Sunday.

“We have carried out the cremation of the three deceased family members on Monday in Noida. We are trying to collect funds for the treatment of the three others,” said the 68-year-old.

Police were yet to register a case in the tragedy, said officials.