Mundka Fire Death Toll Rises To 27, Trapped People Were Forced To Jump Off Windows To Save Life
The death toll in the Mundka fire tragedy, in Delhi has risen to 27 as rescuers continue to search through the charred building.
At least 12 people have been injured and dozens more were rescued by the NDRF, Fire Department and others from the building which is close to the Mundka Metro Station in West Delhi.
The toll from the worst fire mishap in the national capital in recent years is feared to go up as many more are believed to be trapped inside.?The situation worsened when there was no way out for the trapped people and they were compelled to jump off the windows to save themselves.
Bodies burnt beyond recognition
The bodies that were recovered are yet to be identified and the help of forensic teams will be utilised for the purpose.
The reason being most of the bodies were burnt to such an extent that, even it was difficult to establish whether the charred remains were of a man or a woman.
Scenes of chaos prevailed for the whole night at the Sanjay Gandhi hospital where the bodies from the incident were shifted and the relatives of the missing persons kept arriving to locate their loved ones.
Helpdesk at hospital
A help desk was set up at Sanjay Gandhi Memorial Hospital to give information about the injured.
"This is to help the people whose loved ones are missing or injured, so that they get the correct information and don't panic. We are from the Delhi resident security department," said Civil Defence Officer, SP Tomar.
According to the notice by the District Magistrate (West) office, the people can ascertain about the missing persons or inform the desk about such persons on the helpline number 011-25195529, 011-25100093.
A WhatsApp number has also been rolled out for the purpose which, according to the notice, is +91 7982661695.
The four-story commercial building generally used for providing office space for companies, caught fire on Friday evening.
Company owners detained, building owner on the run
The fire started on the first floor of the building, which houses the office of a CCTV camera and router manufacturing company, the Deputy Commissioner of Police (Outer) Sameer Sharma said.
The police have detained the owners of that company, identified as Harish Goel and Varun Goel.
"A total of 27 people have died and 12 are injured. We'll take the help of the forensic team to identify the bodies. FIR has been registered. We've detained company owners. There are chances that more bodies may be recovered as the rescue operation is yet to be completed," he said.
According to the police, the owner of the building, Manish Lakra, who resided on the top floor of the building is absconding after the incident
However, it is unclear whether he was present in the building at the time of the incident.?
"His whereabouts are still unknown," an official said, adding searches are on to nab him.?
Building did not have NOC
Following the fire, it has also emerged that the building was operating without a fire clearance.
The divisional officer of the fire department also informed that there was only one staircase due to which, people could not move out of the building.
"There was only one staircase and because of that people could not go out. The building did not have proper NOC (from the fire department)," said Satpal Bhardwaj, Divisional Officer, Fire Department.
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