New Delhi: The Delhi Police on Sunday evening arrested the owner of the paper factory and his manager where a massive blaze broke out in the morning, killing 43 people at Anaj Mandi in Delhi’s Rani Jhansi road. The fire, which was apparently caused due to a short-circuit, has been doused. CM Arvind Kejriwal has announced ex-gratia of Rs 10 lakh each for kin of the deceased.
At least 50 people have been rescued so far. The fire, which erupted due to a short-circuit, has been doused and rescue efforts are underway.
Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal announced a compensation of Rs 10 lakh each for the kin of the deceased. The government has ordered a probe into the incident and sought a report within seven days.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi tweeted, “The fire in Delhi’s Anaj Mandi on Rani Jhansi Road is extremely horrific. My thoughts are with those who lost their loved ones. Wishing the injured a quick recovery. Authorities are providing all possible assistance at the site of the tragedy.”
The incident came to light when the fire department received a call at 5.22 am following which 30 fire tenders rushed to the spot. Several people trapped inside were rescued and rushed to RML Hospital and Hindu Rao Hospital.
Rajesh Shukla, the additional divisional officer of the Delhi Fire Service, said he had received only a single line of information about the fire. Once at the site, he said the firefighters tried to douse the fire on the first floor when "we heard someone making a phone call about the blaze on the second floor, and directed the water hose towards it." "I thought there was only one man and I would rescue him but when I reached there, the room was filled with people crying for help," he told PTI. "I brought down 10-12 people who were conscious from that room but later we learnt that there was another room where there were more people, numbering more than 30. We learnt (about it) quite late," Shukla said. He said it was a difficult operation since the entire building was filled with smoke. "I went for the second time with a breathing apparatus and by that time, the category of the fire had been upgraded and there were more teams that were sent," he added. Shukla said then his breathing apparatus exhausted and he stayed downstairs. He later went back into the building and got to know that there were nine more persons trapped. "It was a difficult operation and we had to carry a lot of people on our shoulders. I entered the building more than 12 times during the operation," he said.