Two teenagers were charred to death while four other people were injured after a fire broke out in an e-rickshaw charging facility cum godown in Delhi's Shahdara area Sunday morning, the Delhi Fire Services said. A man who rented the godown has been detained for questioning, according to the Delhi Police. All six victims were sugarcane juice vendors who used e-rickshaws to move around and sell their products. According to the DFS officials, the fire broke out at around 6.40 am inside an e-rickshaw charging station under a tin shed roof in the Moti Nagar area. A short circuit in one of the charging components led to a fire in the structure, which was also used as a godown for storing sugarcane machines, said officials. Five fire tenders were rushed to the spot and the fire was doused by 8.30 am, the DFS said. The bodies of the deceased, Brijesh, 19, and Maniram, 18, were found after the fire was doused. They both hailed from Madhya Pradesh and were sleeping inside when the fire broke out, DFS officials said. The four injured, Harishankar, 19; Vipin, 19; Mukesh, 22; and Rinku, 18, were rushed to the Guru Teg Bahadur Hospital and are currently under treatment. Harishankar hails from Madhya Pradesh, and the other three are from Raebareli, Uttar Pradesh. The police said Harishankar is in serious condition with 45 per cent burns, while Rinku is also battling for his life with 30 per cent burns. Mukesh and Vipin are out of danger, with seven per cent burn each. The police said Vinod Rathore, the man running the godown, has been detained, and an investigation is going on to ascertain how many safety standards the godown violated. “A detailed inspection of the godown will be done. We have detained one person in charge of the godown,” a police officer said.
