When smoke began rising from the ground floor of a four-story building in southwest Delhi Palam area on Wednesday morning, the upper floors were in danger. A family was asleep above a showroom filled with clothes and cosmetics, and they had no obvious escape route. By the time firefighters controlled the blaze, nine family members had died, including three young children.
9 from family dies in Palam Delhi fire
The exact cause of the fire is still being investigated, with two theories emerging from the aftermath. Police, following an initial investigation, believe a short circuit on the ground floor likely sparked the fire.
However, a local resident suggested that a water motor left on overnight might have triggered the fatal blaze. Authorities are conducting a thorough investigation that involves the police, the fire department, and the government.
Other Residential floors affected
What is clear is how quickly the fire became deadly for those on the upper floors. The building at WZ Block, Ram Chowk Market, housed the Pravesh Moderate showroom, a clothing and cosmetics business, across the basement, ground, and first floors. The large amounts of clothes and cosmetic products acted as accelerants, fueling the fire as it spread through the lower levels and cut off the residential floors above, where the family lived.
Seven bodies were found in a hall on the third floor, and two more were discovered in a bathroom. The building’s owner, Rajender Kashyap, 70, who is the president of the Sadhnagar market association, had left for Goa two days earlier. He returned on Wednesday to find nine family members dead.
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