Kirari fire: Bodies handed over to family members

A day after a massive fire ripped through a three-storey residential-cum-commercial building in outer Delhi's Kirari area, police handed over the bodies to the family members of the deceased on Tuesday after post-mortem, officials said.

According to police, the post-mortem of seven people was conducted on Monday, while the autopsy of remaining two was performed on Tuesday at Sanjay Gandhi Memorial Hospital.

Nine people, including three children, were killed in the massive fire in Kirari on Monday.

Nine fire tenders were deployed to control the fire after a distress call was received at 12.30 am and the blaze was brought under control by 3.50 am.

Building owner Ram Chandra Jha (65), residents Sudariya Devi (58), Sanju Jha (36), Guddan, Udaykant Chaudhary (33) and his wife Muskan (26), their children Anjali (10), Adarsh (7) and three-month-old Tulsi died in the fire.

The locals and firefighters rescued three persons -- Pooja (24), her three-year-old daughter Aaradhya and niece Saumya (10).

Amarnath Jha, the building owner's younger son, was in Haridwar when the incident took place.

"After the autopsy, the bodies were handed over to the relatives and family members. We have recorded the statement of Amarnath on Tuesday," a senior police officer said.

No fire safety equipment was found in the building that housed a godown on the ground floor where clothes were kept. A cylinder blast on the second floor caused a part of the building to collapse.

It is suspected the fire started due to a short-circuit but the exact cause is being investigated, a fire department official said.

The building has a single entry-exit point which was locked from inside.

The Delhi government announced a Rs 10-lakh compensation to the next of kin of those who died.

On Tuesday morning also, a fire broke out in two factories in Narela here following a cylinder blast.

One of the factories manufactures shoes, while at the other one, cardboard material was being made, they said.

Earlier this month, 44 people were killed in a fire in a four-storey building housing illegal manufacturing units in north Delhi's congested Anaj Mandi area.