2 women killed in massive fire at Ghaziabad building, 8 rescued

Two women were killed in a massive fire at a four-floor building in the Lal Bagh colony of Loni in Ghaziabad in the early hours of Monday. The officials identified the victims as Devi, 74, and her daughter Mamata, 40. They said eight other people were rescued.

“Around 6 am, the fire service police station received information that a fire broke out in a building in Lal Bagh colony. Our two fire vehicles, from Tronica City and Sahibabad, immediately reached the spot. We saw a massive fire on the ground floor, which was being used to store the material of the tent house. No one was present on the ground floor, and the house was locked,” said Ghaziabad Chief Fire Officer Rahul Pal.

“Eight people were trapped on the upper floors of the building. They were rescued by installing a ladder and breaking the wall at the backside of the building. When the house was searched, one woman was lying injured on the first floor and another one on the second floor. They died after being taken to the hospital,” said the official.

He said one of the firefighters was injured in the rescue operation. “When our team reached here, the building was closed from all sides. That’s why we had to enter forcefully, and during this time, an iron door fell on an employee, injuring him,” said the CFO, adding that a short circuit was suspected to be the reason behind the fire.