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One-year-old among nine killed in fire at East Delhi building

Officials said that around 10 to 15 people were safely evacuated from the building during rescue efforts.

Written by: Alok Singh, Vidheesha Kuntamalla

5 min readNew DelhiUpdated: May 4, 2026 01:57 AM IST

Upon arrival, the police found that the fire had engulfed flats on the second, third, and fourth floors of the building. (Express Photo by Abhinav Saha)

Nine people belonging to three different families were killed after a fire broke out in a residential building of eight flats in Vivek Vihar in East Delhi’s Shahdara area early on Sunday. All the victims, including a one-year-old boy, were trapped in their flats, which the owners had extended and enclosed within cage-like structures made of iron grills.

The four-storey building in B Block of Vivek Vihar has space for parking on the ground floor, and two four-bedroom flats – at the front and back – on each floor above.

The fire was confined to the flats at the back of the building, Mukesh Verma, divisional commissioner of the Delhi Fire Service (DFS), said.

The deceased were identified as Arvind Jain (60), Anita Jain (58), Nishant Jain (35), Anchal Jain (33), Akash Jain (1), Shikha Jain (45), Nitin Jain (50), Shailey Jain (48), and Samyank Jain (25).

Read | ‘No one could go in, no one could come out’: How victims of Vivek Vihar fire were trapped by cage-like grills

All the families had been living in the building for the past nine years and were engaged in various businesses. Around 15 other residents of the building were rescued, the Fire Service said.

Police said the fire appeared to have started on the second floor and travelled upward, to the third and fourth floors. Residents of the area reported hearing a loud noise and suspected that an air conditioner had exploded, but this has not been confirmed by the Fire Service or police.

The entire rear of the building had been enclosed within the iron structures that did not allow residents to exit or rescuers to enter the flats until the grills had been cut to create an opening.

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“People build these cage-like iron structures usually to extend their living space and to keep out pigeons, monkeys, and thieves,” a senior police officer told The Indian Express.

“The residents could not escape to the top of the building either, because the door to the terrace was locked. There is only one entry and exit to the building, which is in the front. There was dense smoke, and the lift had stopped working,” the officer added.

According to this officer, some of the flats had central locking systems, which may have stopped working after the fire broke out and power was cut to the building, trapping the residents.

Police said the control room received a call about the fire at 3.48 am. Officers who reached the spot found fire and smoke in the flats on the second, third, and fourth floors. Firefighters and rescue teams immediately launched evacuation and containment operations, they said.

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Fourteen fire tenders were pressed into service, and the Fire Service was supported by personnel from the Delhi Disaster Management Authority (DDMA), traffic police and the local police, officials said.

The fire was brought under control by 8 am. Those who were evacuated were taken to hospital for first aid. Three of the nine bodies were found in the stairwell, suggesting that the victims were trying to go to the terrace through the smoke.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed distress over the tragedy and extended his condolences to the families. He announced an ex gratia of Rs 2 lakh from the Prime Minister’s National Relief Fund for the next of kin of the dead.

Lieutenant Governor Taranjit Singh Sandhu said he was deeply saddened by the loss of lives and offered his thoughts and prayers for the families. Chief Minister Rekha Gupta said she was deeply distressed by the tragedy.

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Among the deceased, Arvind Jain lived on the third floor with his wife and sons. His elder son, Deepak, and his family were not in the flat at the time.

Nitin Jain, who lived on the fourth floor with his wife and son, ran a restaurant in East Delhi. His younger son had travelled to Ujjain a day earlier.

Shikha Jain, who lived on the second floor, is survived by her husband Naveen and their two daughters. Naveen sustained 30 per cent burn injuries on his hands and face and is currently admitted to Safdarjung Hospital.

Gurdeep Singh Gill, a neighbour living in the adjacent house, said the Fire Brigade had arrived soon, but residents living at the rear of the building were trapped. Gill and other neighbours helped in the rescue operations.

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“Families living in the front portion were rescued with the help of ladders and platforms brought by the fire officials. We also placed bed cushions on the ground, and Shikha Jain’s two teenage daughters jumped on to them before the fire spread further,” Gill said.

Silky, a resident of the fourth floor, told The Indian Express that she lives in a flat in the front of the building with her husband, two children, and in-laws. “All of us were at home. The Fire Department’s crane arrived in time, and we were rescued. We are traumatised,” she said.

Deputy Commissioner of Police (Shahdara) R P Meena said that a case under relevant sections had been registered against unknown persons and investigations were underway.

Vidheesha Kuntamalla

Vidheesha Kuntamalla is a Senior Correspondent at The Indian Express, based in New Delhi. She is known for her investigative reporting on higher education policy, international student immigration, and academic freedom on university campuses. Her work consistently connects policy decisions with lived realities, foregrounding how administrative actions, political pressure, and global shifts affect students, faculty, and institutions. Professional Profile Core Beat: Vidheesha covers education in Delhi and nationally, reporting on major public institutions including the University of Delhi (DU), Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), Jamia Millia Islamia, the IITs, and the IIMs. She also reports extensively on private and government schools in the National Capital Region. Prior to joining The Indian Express, she worked as a freelance journalist in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh for over a year, covering politics, rural issues, women-centric issues, and social justice. Specialisation: She has developed a strong niche in reporting on the Indian student diaspora, particularly the challenges faced by Indian students and H-1B holders in the United States. Her work examines how geopolitical shifts, immigration policy changes, and campus politics impact global education mobility. She has also reported widely on: * Mental health crises and student suicides at IITs * Policy responses to campus mental health * Academic freedom and institutional clampdowns at JNU, South Asian University (SAU), and Delhi University * Curriculum and syllabus changes under the National Education Policy Her recent reporting has included deeply reported human stories on policy changes during the Trump administration and their consequences for Indian students and researchers in the US. Reporting Style Vidheesha is recognised for a human-centric approach to policy reporting, combining investigative depth with intimate storytelling. Her work often highlights the anxieties of students and faculty navigating bureaucratic uncertainty, legal precarity, and institutional pressure. She regularly works with court records, internal documents, official data, and disciplinary frameworks to expose structural challenges to academic freedom. Recent Notable Articles (Late 2024 & 2025) 1. Express Investigation Series JNU’s fault lines move from campus to court: University fights students and faculty (November 2025) An Indian Express investigation found that since 2011, JNU has appeared in over 600 cases before the Delhi High Court, filed by the administration, faculty, staff, students, and contractual workers across the tenures of three Vice-Chancellors. JNU’s legal wars with students and faculty pile up under 3 V-Cs | Rs 30-lakh fines chill campus dissent (November 2025) The report traced how steep monetary penalties — now codified in the Chief Proctor’s Office Manual — are reshaping dissent and disciplinary action on campus. 2. International Education & Immigration ‘Free for a day. Then came ICE’: Acquitted after 43 years, Indian-origin man faces deportation — to a country he has never known (October 2025) H-1B $100,000 entry fee explained: Who pays, who’s exempt, and what’s still unclear? (September 2025) Khammam to Dallas, Jhansi to Seattle — audacious journeys in pursuit of the American dream after H-1B visa fee hike (September 2025) What a proposed 15% cap on foreign admissions in the US could mean for Indian students (October 2025) Anxiety on campus after Trump says visas of pro-Palestinian protesters will be cancelled (January 2025) ‘I couldn’t believe it’: F-1 status of some Indian students restored after US reverses abrupt visa terminations (April 2025) 3. Academic Freedom & Policy Exclusive: South Asian University fires professor for ‘inciting students’ during stipend protests (September 2025) Exclusive: Ministry seeks explanation from JNU V-C for skipping Centre’s meet, views absence ‘seriously’ (July 2025) SAU rows after Noam Chomsky mentions PM Modi, Lankan scholar resigns, PhD student exits SAU A series of five stories examining shrinking academic freedom at South Asian University after global scholar Noam Chomsky referenced Prime Minister Narendra Modi during an academic interaction, triggering administrative unease and renewed debate over political speech, surveillance, and institutional autonomy on Indian campuses. 4. Mental Health on Campuses In post-pandemic years, counselling rooms at IITs are busier than ever; IIT-wise data shows why (August 2025) Campus suicides: IIT-Delhi panel flags toxic competition, caste bias, burnout (April 2025) 5. Delhi Schools These Delhi government school grads are now success stories. Here’s what worked — and what didn’t (February 2025) ‘Ma’am… may I share something?’ Growing up online and alone, why Delhi’s teens are reaching out (December 2025) ... Read More

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