New Delhi: A marriage celebration ended in a tragedy as five members of a family were charred to death and four others were seriously injured after a fire, caused by a cylinder blast, engulfed a shanty in south-east Delhi’s Okhla on Monday night.
A call was received around 9.55 pm on Monday about a cylinder blast at a tea stall near the shanty, said a senior officer of the Delhi Fire Services. Four fire-tenders were rushed to the spot and the blaze was brought under control by 11 pm, he added.
A marriage function was supposed to take place in the area on Wednesday and the tea stall was converted into a makeshift kitchen for it. A gas stove and a cylinder were also kept at the stall located just outside the shanty.
As dinner was being prepared last night, the cylinder caught fire due to a leakage which caused the blast, the police said.
Shobha Singh, a security guard who alerted the fire department, said, “It is a huge tragedy. A wedding was scheduled to take place here, but there is sadness all around.”
He recalled the frantic scenes after the blast. “Everyone was pouring water but the flames kept on blazing. By the time those trapped in the fire were rescued, it was too late,” he said.
Five persons, including the groom’s mother and brother, got trapped inside since the only exit point to the shanty was engulfed in the fire, the police said, adding that four others received burn injuries while trying to rescue them.
The nine injured persons were identified as Ravikant, the groom, his parents Usha and Surender Prasad, brother Shashikant, aunts Santra and Lalsa, cousins Khushi and Jitender and maternal uncle Guddu. They were rushed to the Safdarjung and ESI hospitals.
Lalsa and Santra, who were admitted to the ESI Hospital, were declared "brought dead", the police said. Ravikants (26) brother Shashikant (19) and cousin Khushi (6) were declared "brought dead" by the doctors at the Safdarjung Hospital.
Usha (42) also succumbed to her injuries subsequently at the Safdarjung Hospital. The condition of Ravikant, Surender (45) and Guddu (27), who were undergoing treatment at the Safdarjung Hospital, continued to be critical, the police said, adding that Jitender (18) was discharged after treatment. A case has been registered in this regard.
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