Maid dies of asphyxia in house fire

72-year-old man also trapped, cops save him

A 50-year-old domestic help died of asphyxiation after being trapped in the burning house of her employer in south Delhi’s Green Park on Wednesday afternoon.

Along with the woman, a 72-year-old resident of the house was also trapped inside but rescued by police in the nick of time.

Though the man was injured, he is said to be out of danger.

The house owner suspected that a short-circuit in an air-conditioner in one of the bedrooms led to the blaze. Police said they are investigating the incident.

The victim Mamta Biswas was a native of Barapullah in West Bengal and employed as a full-time maid by Abhijeet Banerjee, an Economics professor at a Delhi college.
Biswas was hired through a placement agency and had been working in this house for the past 10 years.

The fire department received a call about the incident at 1 pm on Wednesday.
Three fire tenders were rushed to the spot.

When they reached, they learnt from neighbours that the maid and the professor’s father N R Banerjee were trapped inside the burning house.
Neighbours had heard the victims shouting for help and had emerged out of their homes to see the house on fire.

The firefighters managed to pull out the old man from the house, but Biswas was beyond the firefighters’ reach.

Police said it is suspected that Biswas was in the bathroom when the fire started and that it must have been quite late by the time she learnt of the blaze.

The firefighters finally pulled her out of the burning house by breaking glass panes.
She was rushed to Safdarjung Hospital but declared brought dead by doctors.

There were no external injuries on the victim’s body, suggesting she died of asphyxiation.