Woman, her two minor children die in fire at Lodhi Colony residence in Delhi

“The exact cause of the fire is under investigation. No sign of foul play has come to notice at this stage, however, all angles are being probed,” Mittal added.

According to neighbours, besides the couple and their two daughters, Mohit’s mother Sarita also lived at the residence spread across the second and third floor of the building. “Mohit has lived here with his father, late Narender Kumar Sharma, who was also an advocate, for 12-15 years,” said Jeevan, a neighbour.

Joshiy, a resident of the colony, said his wife noticed smoke billowing from the third floor of the building around 10 am. “The police and the fire-fighters arrived around half-an-hour later. By the time I arrived at the building, a couple of the neighbours had already started a rescue operation.”

Rahul Nawariya, a neighbour, said, “I was having breakfast when my mother started screaming. We saw smoke coming out of the third floor of Mohit’s house. Five to seven ran up the main stairwell to the second floor.”

“We rang the bell and Mohit and his mother opened the door. They did not know about the fire on the floor above. We went up to the third floor and found their room locked. We tried to force the metal door open, but that was useless,” Rahul said.

Following this, Rahul said, he and two others forced open the wooden door of the balcony attached to the room. “As we opened the balcony door, one of the resident’s hair caught fire. As I tried pushing the door open, I could feel something was blocking it. It was one of the girls lying motionless by the door. There was someone on the bed as well. We couldn’t make out anyone due to the fire and smoke,” he added.

A relative, who came to visit the family, was out when the fire started. “All of us had met in December. The children… I can’t believe what has happened. I carried them in my arms not so long ago.”