3 men who came to make deliveries die in Rajkot Atlantis fire, house help injured

Zala further said, “The fire was on the sixth floor of the 12-storey building. Specifically, the fire was in the lobby space between the adjoining buildings of Blocks C and D. Designing work was underway there and the fire had spread in that area. Four people were moved to the hospital. We rescued more than 35 people without any injuries. Three people died during the fire.”

Jagdish Bangarwa, Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP), Zone-2, Rajkot City Police, said two cousins, Kalpesh and Mayur Leuva, lost their lives in the blaze. It was earlier believed that they were workers who were doing POP and furniture work on the sixth floor. But the design work team was on leave Friday owing to the Dhuleti festival.

A total of five firefighting vehicles, four ambulances and 54 firefighters and officers were involved in the operation. (Express photo/ Chirag Chotaliya)

It has been learnt that Kalpesh Leuva was a Blinkit delivery partner and his cousin Mayur Leuva was accompanying him. They had gone to deliver a parcel to the 10th floor.

The third person who died was Praveen alias Ajay Makwana, who was a Swiggy delivery agent who had gone to the eighth floor.

The survivor, Kavita Darji, is a house help in Block-C, but she was going to the eighth floor in Block-D where her sister-in-law, also a house help, was working. She suffered minor injuries and is out of danger, said police officials.

“We primarily believe that the fire may have been caused by an electric overload in the junction box located in the sixth floor lobby. However, the Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) Team and a team from Paschim Gujarat Vij Company Limited (PGVCL) are investigating the cause of the fire,” said DCP Bangarwa.

A total of five firefighting vehicles, four ambulances and 54 firefighters and officers were involved in the operation, said Zala, adding that contrary to initial reports, no firefighters had been injured during the operation.

An Accidental Death (AD) report was filed in the Malaviya Nagar police station. The post mortem of the three deceased was completed and DCP Bangarwa said that the cause of death was by burning. Further investigation was underway.