Mundka blaze: DNA test helps identify 10

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Sameer Sharma, DCP (Outer) said “We informed the family members of three victims about the tests, and they can collect bodies now after an autopsy on Wednesday.”

Madhu’s father, Rajesh (40) told The Indian Express, “We have been checking with hospitals and police for weeks. A part of me is relieved that her body has been found. Madhu and her cousins Poonam and Preeti were inside the building. We are still waiting for updates on Poonam and Preeti… We have been told to collect Madhu’s body. I don’t know if I can see her charred body…”

Ismail Khan (27), a businessman, still remembers the last call he had with his sister Muskaan. “She was crying and saying ‘bohot dhua hai, pls bacha lo’ (there’s a lot of smoke, please save me). I fought with firemen and tried to enter but a huge glass slab fell on me. She saw me and I asked her to jump from the second floor. She was scared… She wanted to start her own business. The fire killed our Muskaan and her dreams… I was supposed to protect her and I failed.”

Officials said as the bodies are “highly charred,” it poses a big challenge for doctors and police to ascertain identity.

The fire broke out at a four-storey building in Mundka on May 13, killing 27 persons, most of them women. The families of the deceased were called to the mortuary, and had identified eight of the deceased, with the help of their clothes or pieces of jewellery. All the bodies were sent to Forensic Science Lab (FSL) in Rohini. The team said they took samples from all 27 bodies to confirm identities. The DNA samples were extracted from the bodies of the deceased while blood samples were taken from the closest relatives. These were then matched.

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