Locals blame narrow lanes, unruly parking for Shahdra fire deaths

New Delhi, Oct 18 (PTI) Narrow lanes and an anarchic parking situation led to the delay in firefighting operation and the death of two people, Shahdra locals said on Friday.

The top two floors of a four-storey house in the east Delhi locality’s Bholanath Nagar went up in flames early Friday, killing a woman and her son.

Locals blamed the delayed arrival of fire engines for the deaths.

Delhi Fire Service received an emergency call at 5.24 am and within minutes, fire engines were sent to the location, a firefighter told PTI. Vehicles were significantly delayed due to narrow lanes and haphazard parking, he admitted.

“The delay was a key factor in the loss of life of my family members,” said Hariom Gupta, a relative of Kailash Gupta, one of the several of a family injured in the fire.

Hariom said even though the fire trucks were very close to the house, they could not get through because cars were parked all along the narrow lanes.

“Big fire engines were sent back and smaller ones took more than 20 minutes to reach the location,” he said.

A 42-year-old woman and her 16-year-old son were killed in the blaze that, according to prima facie reports, erupted due to a short circuit in an AC.

“Charred bodies of Shilpi Gupta and her son Pranav Gupta were recovered from the house,” a police officer said.

Four members of Shilpi’s family – Kailash Gupta, 72, his wife Bhagwati Gupta, 70, their son Manish Gupta, 45, and Manish’s son Parth, 19 – are undergoing treatment at GTB hospital. Manish remains critical.

A DFS officer said six tenders were pressed into service after the first call and it took two hours for them to bring the blaze under control.

Aarchi, a minor student who lives on the fourth floor of the building, said she heard people shouting outside and noticed dense smoke.

“I and my brother ran towards the terrace. We jumped on the rooftop of the adjoining building to save our lives,” she said.

It took more than an hour for the fire brigade team to reach the house, she added.

According to an initial investigation, dense smoke made it difficult for the family to make its way out.

“Our crime team and forensic experts visited the building to know the exact reason for the fire,” a police officer said.