New Delhi, March 18 – The chaos of exams had just ended, and some family members had only just returned from trips. The Kashyap family was expecting a quiet morning, but tragedy struck before dawn on Wednesday.
In the smoke and panic, family and friends believe that everyone tried to help each other instead of escaping, resulting in their deaths while trying to save one another.
The multi-story building near Ram Chowk Market, close to the Palam Metro Station, was gutted from the inside, killing nine members of the family, including three children, while three others were injured.
The building housed a cloth and cosmetic showroom on the ground and first floors, while the family of Rajender Kashyap, the local market association president, lived on the upper floors.
Kashyap lived in the building with his wife Lado (70), their sons and extended family. At the time of the incident, several members were not present in the house. Kashyap was in Goa, while one of his sons and his family were on vacation, officials said.
Among those killed were Lado (70), her sons Pravesh (33) and Kamal (39), Kamal's wife Ashu (35), their three daughters aged 15, six and three, and Lado's daughter Himanshi (22) and daughter-in-law Deepika (28), police said.
Speaking about the loss, Riya, a worker at the showroom, said the family had a strong bond.
"I have seen this family up close for years, and I know for sure that they would never have thought of saving themselves first. In that moment, they must have been calling out to each other, trying to gather everyone, especially the children," she said.
She added that she could not imagine their pain. "There must have been so much smoke, so much panic, but even then, they would have been trying to help one another, to see each other through the smoke, not leaving anyone behind. That is the kind of family they were," she added.
A colleague, who wished to remain anonymous, said the family functioned as a single unit.
"In that kind of moment, no one thinks of escaping alone. They would have been moving through the house, waking people up, picking up children, helping elders. In that confusion of smoke and fire, there was very little they could have done," the colleague said.
The colleague added that they were still struggling to come to terms with the loss. "But that is what makes this so painful. They didn't just get caught in a fire; they must have tried to save each other till the very end," he said.
Speaking about the children, Riya said she had seen them grow up in the same house.
"The eldest was so beautiful, the middle one was full of life, always smiling, and the youngest was just like a doll, playful and innocent. That house felt alive because of them. Today, it feels impossible to accept that they are gone," she said.
Recalling the family’s warmth, another worker said they were always treated like family.
"We celebrated birthdays together, cut cakes together, laughed together. They never treated us like staff. That is why this loss feels so personal," the worker said, adding, "Kamal celebrated his birthday on January 14 with all of us."
Another employee said there were seven fire extinguishers in the shop area and safety procedures were followed, but the scale of the fire made rescue extremely difficult.
Family members and relatives waiting outside the hospital struggled to come to terms with the tragedy. A relative said some members were away at the time, including those travelling or visiting relatives, and would now have to return with devastating news.
"Rajender Kashyap was in Goa, while his sons Sunil and his wife Gauri were on vacation with their families," relatives said.
They further added that their eldest son, Kamal, had only recently returned from a conference in Bali as he lost his life in the fire.
"Just imagine the pain they must be going through when they return and learn what has happened," a distant relative said outside the hospital.
Anil (32), one of Rajender's sons, tried to save his one-and-a-half-year-old daughter by lowering her from the third floor to the second floor where a ladder had been placed, before jumping himself. Both sustained injuries and are undergoing treatment, officials said.
Sachin (29), another family member, jumped to an adjacent building to escape and suffered around 25 per cent burn injuries. He is undergoing treatment at Safdarjung Hospital.
According to officials, information about the fire was received at 7.04 am at Palam Village police station, following which teams rushed to the spot. Around 30 fire tenders and 11 ambulances were deployed, along with personnel from the police, BSES, Air Force Police and the NDRF, as part of a large-scale rescue operation.
An old friend of Rajender Kashyap, Bajaj, said the family had built everything through years of hard work.
"This is not just the loss of a few lives; it feels like an entire family has been wiped out in one night. What stood there was not just a house, it was a complete family built over the years, and today that entire structure has collapsed," he said.