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The fire started from the first floor and spread to the other floors, police said. In videos that emerged on the social media, people could be heard crying for help while others were seen jumping from the building in a desperate attempt to escape the flames.
There were videos where people could be seen using ropes to escape the building from where thick black smoke was coming out. Locals were also seen providing them help in reaching to safety. Some survivors also used a narrow space in the building to climb down. The police said some people were injured while trying to escape and were shifted to the hospital.
In order to rescue those who were trapped, the fire department deployed cranes while police officials broke the windows of the building to help the people. Following a six-hour long firefighting operation, the blaze was brought under control. Police, fire department and NDRF teams were involved in the rescue work. The fire department is currently carrying out cooling operations.
Mundka is close to the Delhi-Haryana border. In the night, traffic snarls started in the area with the entry of trucks. The police, however, did not specify other details like the gender or age of the deceased. Delhi Chief Fire Service Officer Atul Garg said no firefighter was injured in the operation.
The distraught relatives of the victims of a fire incident in a commercial building at Delhi’s Mundka thronged the Sanjay Gandhi Hospital on Friday night looking for their family members. One of them, Ajit Tiwari, said his sister Monika (21) is missing since the incident.
“She started working at a CCTV camera packaging unit last month and received her first salary on Thursday. We got to know about the fire at 5 pm, but had no idea that the blaze occurred at her office building. When she did not return home by 7 pm, we started looking for her,” Tiwari said. Monika lives with her two brothers and a sister at Delhi’s Agar Nagar. She hails from Gonda district in Uttar Pradesh.
Another woman was frantically looking for her elder daughter who also works at the CCTV camera packaging unit. “My daughter Pooja has been working at the CCTV camera packaging unit for the last three months. We live in Mubarakpur and got to know about the incident at 9 pm. She has a cut mark below her left eye. We are looking for her at various hospitals. She is the sole breadwinner of our family of four. Her two younger sisters study in a school,” the woman said.
According to fire department officials, information about the blaze was received around 4.40 pm following which 24 fire tenders were rushed to the spot. Ankit, who works at one of the offices in the building, said a motivational session was going on at the second floor when the fire broke out.
“I am very fortunate that I am alive. I could have also lost my life. A motivational session was going on at the second floor of the building when we noticed the blaze. We broke the glass windows and somehow managed to escape,” he said. Another man said his aunt is missing.
With PTI inputs
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Source: News18