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Delhi man gets stuck in lift during fire at Vishal Mega Mart, dies
The fire broke out at Vishal Mega Mart in Karol Bagh on Friday. According to the Delhi Fire Service, 13 fire tenders reached the spot to douse the blaze.
A 25-year-old man was killed after he was trapped in the elevator of the Vishal Mega Mart departmental store outlet in Karol Bagh, where a fire broke out on Friday evening, police said on Saturday, adding that the rescue operation is ongoing in the four-storey building as “two floors are still filled with thick smoke.”
The deceased, Kumar Dhirendra Pratap Singh, had come to the building in search of a job, said deputy commissioner of police (Central) Nidhin Valsan. “He was trapped in the elevator when the fire broke out in the departmental showroom. Initially, it was not clear if he had come to the showroom for job interview or at any other floor,” he added.
The fire broke out in the showroom’s second-floor outlet around 6.30 PM.
Thirteen fire tenders were dispatched from the nearby fire stations to control the blaze and prevent it from spreading to the showroom’s upper and lower floors, Delhi Fire Services (DFS) chief Atul Garg said.
Deputy commissioner of police (central) Nidhin Valsan said that the Vishal Mega Mart departmental store on the second floor of the four-storey building at Padam Singh Road in Karol Bagh, where fabric and grocery items were sold, caught fire. The blaze was brought under control before 9 PM.
“Six fire tenders are at the spot. The fire is under control at the moment. One person is suspected to be missing. Rescue operations are underway,” added DCP Valsan.
The police said it was not immediately clear how many people were inside the departmental store when the fire started. A short-circuit was suspected to be the cause of the fire, but the exact cause of the blaze will be ascertained after an inspection by forensic experts, the police said.
HT tried to contact staff at the departmental store, but the phone number related to the store and available on the internet was found switched off.
