NEW DELHI
Two men died in a massive fire that engulfed a furniture godown in Kirti Nagar, west Delhi, in the early hours of Sunday, following which police registered a case into the incident. Officials aware of the developments said the two may have died of suffocation as they were staying in a room on the roof of the building.
The deceased were identified as Atul Rai, 45, who was from Uttar Pradesh, and Nand Kishore Dubey, 65, who was from Bihar. The incident was reported around 4.30am, officials said.
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Officials of the Delhi Fire Services said they were informed about the fire at 4.25am and pressed seven fire tenders into service. “There were three floors above ground and a room on the roof. The fire is suspected to have started from the roof and then spread to a floor below,” a fire department official said on condition of anonymity.
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Police said that the fire spread primarily through the shaft, all the way to the roof, and also from the floor below. The room on the roof was locked from the inside and two persons who were inside the room are suspected to have died of suffocation, an officer said.
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“Rai was a labourer and lived in the room permanently. Dubey was a rickshaw puller who used to frequently work for the owner of the godown to deliver items,” the officer, requesting anonymity, said.
Police said that after the fire was doused, the two men were rushed to Deen Dayal Upadhyay Hospital, but they were declared dead. Their bodies were preserved for a post-mortem examination, after which they were handed over to the families.
Rai’s brother-in-law, who did not want to be named, said he had been working with the godown owner for the past 25 years. “He had been working for over two decades, but the owner didn’t inform us or visit us. A man who used to work with Rai called and informed us about what happened,” he said.
Police said that forensics and crime team thoroughly inspected the spot, and will ascertain the cause of fire.
Alipur fire
More than 94 fire tenders have been pressed into service to douse a massive blaze that broke out from a warehouse in Alipur on Saturday afternoon, a fire official said, adding that more than 220 firemen are involved in the operation.
According to fire officials, the fire has spread over more than 6,000 square yards of area, and it is taking longer to douse the fire due to materials such as paper rolls and wooden furniture catching fire. Fire officials said that it’s likely to continue for at least one more day.
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