10 more Mundka blaze victims identified

NEW DELHI: The Delhi Police on Wednesday said 10 more victims of the Mundka fire tragedy have been identified based on their DNA reports, taking the number of victims recognised so far to 21, officials said on Wednesday.

Twenty seven were killed in a fire in a unit in northwest Delhi’s Mundka on May 13. Since the number of people presumed missing was the same as the number of bodies or charred remains found, the police put the toll in the tragedy at 27.

Of these 27, bodies of eight victims were identified by their relatives on May 15. However, since the bodies were charred beyond recognition, the police insisted on DNA test on all bodies. On Tuesday, the police was handed over the DNA test report by the Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL), based on which three more bodies were identified.

Deputy commissioner of police (outer) Sameer Sharma said that the 10 who have been identified through their DNA reports are: Pooja, three sisters Madhu, Preeti and Poonam, Musharat, Geeta Chauhan, Sonam, Asha and Amar Nath Goyal, the father of Harish and Varun Goyal who were running the illegal factory in the building. The Goyal brothers were arrested along with the building owner, Manish Lakra.

Emotional scenes were witnessed on Wednesday at the Sanjay Gandhi Memorial Hospital’s mortuary where the bodies of the three who were identified on Tuesday were handed over to the relatives of the victims.

Police added that the mortal remains of the 10 identified on Wednesday will be handed over to the victims’ kin on Thursday after completing all formalities.

Families of victims who got together at the hospital on Wednesday said that they were yet to get any compensation from the government. “We were told that we will be given ₹1 lakh before the

DNA reports are handed over but it’s been a month and we have not received a penny. We thought that we will go and meet the sub-divisional magistrate but we decided not to go today,” said Akbar, husband of Musharat whose body was identified on Wednesday.

Akbar also said that the families of victims are also demanding that members of a few families of the victims should be given a government job since those who died were sole breadwinners of the family.