‘Fire intensified, they panicked and jumped’: 3 of family die escaping Dwarka flat blaze

According to initial reports, the fire, which broke out at 9.58 am, engulfed the 9th and 10th floors of the duplex flat, where Yash and his family lived, at the Shabad Co-operative Group Housing Society. Five fire tenders were rushed to the scene to contain the blaze, officials from the Delhi Fire Services (DFS) said.

“The family’s relatives had arrived the day before to stay with them since they had organised a Bhagwat Katha… the fire started on the 9th floor, from the puja room,” said Additional DCP (Dwarka) Nishant Gupta.

“Most of the family members were able to escape using a side door leading to the terrace. However, two of the children got left behind, and Yash rushed back to rescue them. While he tried to get them out, the fire intensified inside the house and the three of them got trapped in one of the balconies… as the fire continued to spread into the balcony, we suspect they panicked and decided to jump, hoping they’d land with a few broken bones,” said Additional DCP Gupta.

A fire broke out on the 9th floor of a building in Dwarka, New Delhi, on Tuesday. (Express Photo by Praveen Khanna)

Yadav’s wife and elder son survived the fire and were taken to Indira Gandhi Hospital for medical attention. Authorities confirmed that all other residents of the society were safely evacuated. Power and piped natural gas (PNG) supply to the building have been cut off as a precaution.

While Yadav’s family told The Indian Express that 12 people were inside the house at the time of the fire, the DFS reported that a total of five people were rescued from the house. “Five people were injured and moved to nearby hospitals — four to Akash Hospital and one to Indira Gandhi Hospital — before the DFS teams arrived,” said DFS officials.

‘Some of us escaped… don’t know when they got separated’: Family

Yash Yadav’s family had made their way to Delhi all the way from Shahwazpur village in Uttar Pradesh’s Etah district. Yadav’s sister, Meera, had organised a Bhagwat Katha in Mohan Garden. On Tuesday, the family’s elders had woken up early to prepare for the rituals as the children slept — when they first smelled smoke.

Amit Bhandari, a close friend of Yadav’s, could not believe the news when he heard about it (Express)

“My cousins and I had barely woken up. We were beginning to get ready… some of my younger cousins were still asleep,” said Yadav’s 17-year-old nephew.

Before they could grasp what was happening, the house was filled with black smoke. The family scattered to either escape or locate the origin of the fire.

“My aunt and a few others escaped to the terrace… they somehow came down to the lower floors… I escaped through the balcony. I jumped down to the lower floor… I don’t know when my uncle and cousins got separated from us,” said the 17-year-old.

In the hospital, Meera, clad in a yellow saree, was sobbing inconsolably. Kaushal Yadav, another relative, who was not present inside the house at the time of the fire, alleged: “Everyone saw the smoke coming out of the house, but no one came to help them. No one called the fire brigade. Those three could have been saved.”

Amit Bhandari, a close friend of Yadav’s, could not believe the news when he heard about it.

He recalled Yadav as an enterprising man with a sharp mind for business: “He had left home when he was really young and came to Delhi to make it on his own… he worked in the flex business, and I was in advertising. We got to know each other through business, and it slowly translated into a friendship.”

“I remember he once asked me, quite casually, ‘What if I bought my own machine?’ Soon after he took a loan and set up his own (flex) shop… the rest is history,” said Bhandari.

With the pandemic shutting down the flex printing industry almost overnight, Yadav faced difficulties, but didn’t let it bog him down. “He adapted and partnered with Fabre — the modular kitchen company. He started his own interior design business after that… He was truly a self-made man,” Bhandari said.