Ghaziabad: Couple, infant daughter die in fire incident at residential building

In a tragic incident, a couple and their four-month-old daughter died due to asphyxiation when they were trapped inside their first floor flat during a fire incident at a building at Patel Marg in Ghaziabad on late Sunday night.

The officials said 13 people were trapped and three of them died during the incident.

The officials said the ground floor of the residential building is used by building owner, Sunil Dutt, while there are two flats on the first floor and one on the second floor.

They added that the fire started from the ground floor where the building owner stocked tent related items.

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“The stairs to the first floor are from inside the godown and therefore none of the occupants on the first floor as well as those on the second floor could come down. In all, 13 people were trapped and 10 were rescued by the fire department while calling them to the top floor roof. They were taken to a nearby house and rescued. The couple and their daughter on the first floor tried hard to break the door but fire and smoke was raging from the stairs. So, they could not move out and died due to asphyxiation while trapped inside,” said Sunil Kumar Singh, chief fire officer.

He added that household items in flats also suffered damage due to fire.

The victims were identified as Pankaj Kumar (30), his wife Kavita and their minor daughter, Kritika.

Pankaj is the brother-in-law of the building owner and moved to the flat about a year ago.

“Pankaj is employed with a company which is engaged in delivery of material and he often arrives late at night after finishing his work. A year ago, he was residing at Masuri. So, I called him here to stay in the city. The couple got married one-and-half years ago. After the fire started, I along with neighbours tried hard to get inside the building to rescue them but we could not succeed due to the fire and thick smoke. Pankaj and his family got trapped and died. They had no burn injuries and bodies were taken for post mortem,” Dutt said.

He added that he suspects foul play with regard to the incident.

“There was no electricity connection in the godown and there was no probable reason for the fire to start. I suspect that it could be due to some foul play by some anti-social element. I will contact police once the post mortem is completed and last rites of the deceased are performed,” he added.

The fire department officials said that the fire probably started around midnight late Sunday night and a call was received around 1:57am on Monday.

“We roped in four fire tenders to douse the fire and it took us about one-and-half hours to control it. The building is located amid densely populated residential area and the fire tenders had difficulty in moving to near the building. So, we roped in long hose pipes to sprinkle water,” chief fire officer added further.

Naresh Sharma, SHO of Sihani Gate police station said, “The bodies of three deceased were sent for autopsy and the bodies had no burn injuries. They got trapped amid thick smoke and inhaled poisonous gases due to fire. We have not received any complaint so far.”