Fire kills one, three injured

A person died and three others were seriously injured, after a fire broke out on Friday night in a four-storey footwear warehouse in northwest Delhi.

A person died and three others were seriously injured, after a fire broke out on Friday night in a four-storey footwear warehouse in northwest Delhi.

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Delhi Fire Service (DFS) officials said the incident was reported from Jai Mata Market located in Keshavpuram’s A2 block at 11.30 p.m.

“The fire broke out at a storage facility located in the building’s basement and soon enveloped the entire building,” said a senior DFS official. He said four labourers, who were sleeping on the ground floor were trapped, but were rescued as soon as possible.

One of them, who is yet to be identified, died after falling unconscious due to the fumes and got burnt, the official said.

Eight fire tenders were called to fight the fire. Residents, however, blamed a delay in the arrival of the fire tenders for the labourer’s death.

“We had informed the fire department about the incident around 11.30 p.m., but they reached the spot an hour later,” said Ajay Garg, who lives next to the gutted warehouse.

The DFS refuted his claims. “We had to take a six-km long detour to reach the area as a flyover is being constructed near Britannia Chowk. We reached the spot as soon as possible,” a DFS official said.