Massive fire rips through building in Delhi’s Rohini, 4 dead, 3 injured

New Delhi: Four people died in a massive fire that engulfed a four-storey building in Rohini, which is suspected to have been triggered by a worker’s self-immolation bid, according to a source in the Delhi Fire Services.

The Delhi Police, however, said that no such immolation bid has come into their notice so far, and they are awaiting reports from the fire department to ascertain the reason behind the blaze.

The fire broke out at the building housing multiple manufacturing units in Rohini’s Rithala area on Tuesday evening. The firefighting operation, involving about 100 firefighters, ended around 10 am on Wednesday -- after approximately 15 hours of efforts.

According to police, DNA testing will be carried out to identify the four charred bodies that were recovered from the building.

"There are a total of four bodies, among them two are women. We have requested forensic experts to conduct DNA sampling to establish their identities," a police officer said.

Delhi Industries minister Manjinder Singh Sirsa told PTI, "We will probe the matter. It has been learnt that this was functioning in a residential area illegally. This means that the previous political dispensation was responsible. We will look into how many such units are functioning illegally. This is a matter of grave concern."

Eight people were inside the building when the fire started on the ground floor around 7.30 pm on Tuesday. The blaze quickly spread to the upper floors due to the presence of highly combustible materials like fabric, plastic and inflammable material used in manufacturing perfumes, officials said.

The building was located in a narrow lane, which posed a challenge for the firefighters, they said, adding that because there was no ventilation in the building, the fire was hard to control and they had to make a hole on the ground and first floor to enter the building and control the blaze.

At around 1.15 am on Wednesday, fire personnel recovered three charred bodies from the first floor and later found another body, they said.

Fire department officials said the blaze was brought under control on the lower floors by 6 am, but the firefighting operations continued till 10 am.

A source in the DFS said, “The fire appears to be arson in nature, meaning that it was intentionally started.” “It is suspected that a worker who had a monetary dispute with the owner emptied a can of kerosene and set himself ablaze on the ground floor," the source said.

The worker then ran from the ground floor to an office located on the staircase between the ground floor and the first floor, and locked himself inside, the source added.

While Nitin Bansal (31) and Rakesh (30) suffered 80 per cent burn injuries, Virender (25) suffered burns on both his legs. They were initially taken to BSA Hospital from where the two with critical burns were referred to RML Hospital for further treatment, a firefighter said.

Bansal is the son of the owner of a manufacturing unit located in the building.

Initial investigation revealed that the manufacturing units in the building had been operating without a fire safety certificate and had been shifted to the present location during the Covid lockdown, the police said.

The building was unauthorised and situated in a densely populated residential area, which made the evacuation and rescue efforts even more difficult, they added.

A firefighter involved in the operation said that upon reaching the spot, their team had to deploy a JCB machine to drill a hole in the wall, after which firefighting operations were initiated.

Blackened walls, mangled grills and burnt machines and pipes could be seen out of the drilled holes on the side of the building.

A senior officer at the spot said that firefighting teams drilled three holes into the building’s side walls to access the core of the fire, which had spread deep into the packed stock.

An FIR against unidentified people has been registered under BNS sections 106 (Causing death by negligence), 289 (Negligent conduct with respect to machinery), 125 (Act endangering life or personal safety of others), he said.

Dharam Singh (32), who believes his father Dilip Singh is among the deceased, recounted his final conversation with him.

"I won't survive, beta. I am going to die of suffocation," were the haunting final words Dilip Singh (62) uttered to his son.

“I got a call around 7.40 pm (on Tuesday). My father said ‘a fire has broken out in the factory, son. I don’t think I will survive’. I thought it was a minor fire and asked him to leave the building immediately,” Dharam Singh told PTI.

As thick plumes of smoke turned the sky grey, people screamed for help and some leapt from upper floors to save themselves from the flames.

Geeta, a survivor who worked on one of the floors, said, "We saw the smoke, heard people shouting, and just ran. I jumped from the first-floor balcony, it was the only way out. The main entrance was blocked due to the fire.” Armaan, another survivor, said the packaging machines, the boxes, the material, the machines, everything inside burnt.

"The fire went deep into the packages. Even if you doused the surface, it kept burning inside,” said Armaan, who was also present in the first floor of the building during the fire, explaining the chaos on every floor.

“There were fire extinguishers, but the panic and smoke was so intense that all our first instinct was to flee the scene,” he added.