Delhi: Woman, niece killed in Sultanpuri fire

At the funeral of the victims in Sultanpuri on Sunday. Express

HOURS AFTER celebrating a wedding in the family, a 30-year-old pregnant woman and her 13-year-old niece were killed when their house in Outer Delhi’s Sultanpuri caught fire early Sunday morning. Fire department officials said they had received a call around 3.42 am and three fire tenders were rushed to the spot. Fire officials then brought them out of the house and rushed them to Sanjay Gandhi Hospital. The fire was doused by 7 am.

DCP (outer district) M N Tiwari said, “The four-storey house in Krishan Vihar, which caught fire, belongs to one Ramtirtha Bharadwaj. He has three sons and three daughters. One of his sons got married on Saturday night. One of his daughters-in-law, Anjali, and one of his granddaughters died in the fire. Anjali’s daughter, eight-year-old Taviska, was injured and is being treated at AIIMS Trauma Centre. A forensics team has been called in to ascertain the cause of the fire.”

A case has been registered at Sultanpuri police station under 304 A (causing death due to negligence) and other relevant sections of the IPC.
Police sources, however, said prima facie, the cause of the fire seems to a short-circuit in the air conditioning unit. The fire broke out after the compressor of the air conditioner, on the ground floor of the house, exploded, they said.

Family members said the wedding party had returned from Badli Industrial area around 3 am, although the newlyweds were yet to return. “We all rushed out of the house the moment we realised there was a fire. But the injured and the deceased were sleeping and remained trapped inside,” a family member said.