New Delhi:
At least 43 people were killed when a massive fire ripped through a four-storey building housing illegal manufacturing units in north Delhi's congested Anaj Mandi area on Sunday morning, in the second deadliest blaze in the national capital. Almost all the deceased were migrant labourers hailing from Bihar and Uttar Pradesh. A preliminary probe suggested that a short-circuit triggered the blaze. Power discom BYPL said the fire began due to "internal system" trouble. According to officials the building did not have fire safety clearance and was packed with combustible material like cardboards. Police have arrested the property owner Rehan and his manager.
1. The Anaj Mandi fire tragedy is the worst fire accident in the national capital since the 1997 Uphaar cinema blaze that claimed 59 lives.
2. About 35 fire tenders were rushed after the blaze was reported at 5.22 am in the Anaj Mandi building which housed manufacturing units for glass items, cardboards, handbags and other goods. The building was packed with cardboards, plastic wrappings, garments, rexine, plastic toys and packaging items, aggravating the fire and resulting in dense smoke which suffocated the people trapped inside, they said.
3. It took over 150 firefighters nearly five hours to douse the blaze. As many as 63 people were pulled out of the building. While 43, including one minor, died, 16 were injured. Two fire department personnel were hurt while carrying out rescue work, officials said.
4. Police and fire department officials said many of the fatalities occurred due to suffocation as the people were sleeping when the fire started at around 5 am on the second floor of the building. Those awakened by the fire, suspected by officials to have been triggered by a short-circuit, had to struggle to escape as the exit routes were partially blocked and several windows were found sealed.
5. The narrow lanes of Anaj Mandi area made rescue operations difficult for firefighters, who had to cut window-grills to get access to the building. Some injured were carried to the hospital in auto rickshaws. Firemen made their way through narrow lanes to rescue those trapped inside the blackened building and carried many unconscious labourers on their backs.
6. Police have arrested the property owner Rehan and his manager Furkan and a case has been registered under sections 304 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder) and 285 (negligent conduct with respect to fire) of the IPC. The case has been transferred to the Crime Branch.
7. The Delhi government ordered a magisterial probe into the tragedy and sought a report within seven days. North Delhi Mayor Avtar Singh said he has asked the municipal commissioner to form a team to probe the exact cause of the fire.
8. Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said it was a "very, very tragic" incident and an ex gratia of Rs 10 lakh each will be given to the next of kin of those killed and Rs 1 lakh to the injured. Modi and Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar announced an ex gratia of Rs 2 lakh each for the families of the deceased. The Prime Minister approved Rs 50,000 each for those seriously injured. The amount will be paid from the Prime Minister National Relief Fund, the PMO said in a tweet. BJP, announced Rs 5 lakh to the families of each of the deceased and Rs 25,000 for treatment of the injured.
9. Official sources claimed civic authorities had last week "surveyed" the Anaj Mandi building but the upper floors were found to be locked due to which the entire structure could not be inspected. Officials were to visit the building again to survey the upper floors and accordingly issue a show-cause notice, they said.
10. An intense political blame game erupted over the incident, with the BJP holding the Kejriwal government responsible for the incident and the AAP alleging that the saffron party was doing politics over dead bodies. The Congress found fault with both the BJP, which is power in all three municipal corporations here, and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP).
(With PTI Inputs)
