4 charred to death in west Delhi fire

Four persons were charred to death inside their house-cum-workshop in Rampura in Punjabi Bagh early Thursday, reports HT Correspondent.

Four persons were charred to death inside their house-cum-workshop in Rampura in Punjabi Bagh early Thursday.

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“The four occupants of the one room house were found charred to death. They were all rushed to Babu Jagjivan Ram Hospital where they were all declared brought dead,” said a fire official on the condition of anonymity, as he is not authorised to speak to the media.

The deceased are Mohammed Jaffer (22), Mohammed Ajaz (20), Nazim and Saba Karim (both 19).

The police said the exact reasons behind the fire are yet to be ascertained.

They added that all four victims were migrant labourers from Bihar and were working as tailors.

“They used to manufacture bed sheets, curtains and sofa covers. They were all asleep when the room caught fire. We believe that the fire was caused by a short circuit but we are still investigating,” said a senior police officer on the condition of anonymity, as he is not authorised to speak to the media.

The police said the house and the business belonged to one Abdul Gaffar, whose son Saba Karim also died in the fire.

Gaffar, who was not in the room when it caught fire, owns a house about 500 metres from the incident site. He told the police that his son usually slept there.

“The victims had no escape route. The room had only one entrance, which was a shutter. It was rolled down and locked from inside by them,” said the fire official.

They added that the fire had started from the front part of the room around 4:40 a.m.

“They must have tried to open the shutter which is hard to open as it was disfigured,” he added.

The police have registered a case of mischief by fire with intent to destroy a house and death due to negligence.