New Delhi, March 18 Neighbours of the family that got trapped in a fire in Delhi's Palam area said they made frantic attempts to get them out by trying to break windows and a portion of the building's wall, while others alleged that the malfunctioning equipment of firefighters delayed their rescue.
The multi-story building near Ram Chowk Market, close to the Palam Metro Station, was completely gutted from the inside as nine members of the family that lived there, including three children, were killed in the blaze on Wednesday, with three others injured.
The building had a cloth and cosmetic showroom on the ground and first floors, while the family of the owner, Rajender Kashyap, lived on the second and third floors.
Locals said a flower seller alerted the neighbours after spotting the fire around 6.30 am. Police said information about the blaze was received at around 7:04 am at Palam Village police station, following which teams rushed to the spot.
Kamal, a school cab driver, said around 40 people, including locals and fire personnel, attempted to break open the showroom's shutter to rescue those trapped inside. The shutter is now completely broken due to the fire, with electrical wiring visibly burnt.
Kamal alleged that the fire brigade faced technical issues upon arrival.
"When the fire brigade arrived, they were unable to operate their equipment due to a malfunction in the pressure system. If the equipment had worked on time, some people would have been saved," he said.
People made repeated attempts to reach those trapped before additional fire tenders could arrive. The fire office said a total of 30 fire tenders were deployed for the operation.
Raghunandan Sharma, who owns a garment shop nearby, recounted the sequence of events. He was informed about the fire by his son.
"By the time I reached, the fire had already spread. I started shouting for people to run upstairs. Someone shouted back that they were stuck," he said.
He said they went to the terrace of the adjacent house and broke a wall common to both buildings using hammers.
"We went to the top of the adjacent building and tried to get inside from there, but the smoke was so dense that we couldn't enter," Sharma said.
They also tried to break a front-facing window of the burning building. Their efforts were unsuccessful as the smoke was too dense, he said.
"When the fire brigade arrived, their hydraulic machine did not work for around 45 minutes. Another fire tender took around 50 minutes to arrive, and because of that delay, people had to try going up themselves," Sharma said.
He added that if the fire brigade's hydraulic system had worked on time, the tragedy could have been prevented.
Neighbours who were also involved in the rescue operation said the smoke was so dense that no one could see anything, and it kept getting denser.
Police were also involved in breaking a portion of the wall from the adjacent house. "We all tried together and managed to break a part of the wall, but the smoke was so dense that it was impossible to even take a single step inside," a neighbour said.
Officials said they are investigating the cause of the fire and looking into allegations of delays and malfunctioning firefighting equipment.
The neighbours also said the goods stored in the building contributed to the rapid spread of the fire.
"Since the family ran a shop dealing in undergarments and cosmetics, which is highly flammable, the fire spread rapidly. The house was packed with goods and had little to no ventilation," a neighbour said.
Residents described the victims as part of a large joint family. They said the household included an elderly couple, their sons and daughters-in-law, and several grandchildren.
Some family members were away at the time of the incident, including one son who was travelling abroad and another whose family had gone to Shimla.
Sharma added that Kashyap's wife was physically disabled and used a wheelchair, which may have made evacuation more difficult.
Kashyap, he said, is the market president and had been elected twice consecutively. "He was a very good and friendly person, his family was very sociable and always stood by others in their times of sorrow."
"All of his children were involved in handling their business, while the daughters-in-law were homemakers," he added.
