Man saves eight lives from fire, dies a hero’s death
NEWDELHI: He was sleeping when a fire broke out at the ground floor of an adjacent building in early Tuesday. The fire brigade was late. Every minute was important.
Fifty-four-year old Satbir Sanchal was sleeping. When he heard the screams outside, he wasted no time to step out and help his neighbours. Sanchal saved the lives of at least eight members of a family but died a hero’s death.
At 2.10 pm on Tuesday, a fire broke out in the ground floor of a private diagnostic centre, next to Sanchal’s house in northwest Delhi’s Trinagar. The building owner Rajesh Gupta had taken his family to the top floor to escape the flames.
Gupta had sent an SOS call to the fire department but the fire fighters had not yet arrived. Sanchal, owner of a fire extinguisher shop, rushed to help.
He brought four extinguishers from his godown and rushed to the spot with his son Akshay.
“My father asked me to get more extinguishers. The fire tenders had not arrived. They were late. I went back and got eight more extinguishers,” Akshay told HT
While Sanchal and his son were fighting fire at the ground floor of the five-storey building, a cylinder exploded.
Glass and metal pieces hit Sanchal on his neck. He was declared brought dead at a nearby hospital. “My brother should be given a bravery award. He was the most helpful person in the locality. It was always in his nature to think about others and then himself. The locality will always remember him,” his brother Virender said.
Fire department officials said they received a call at around 2.37 pm and reached the spot within 10-15 minutes.
The fire was brought under control around 5.15 by two fire tenders.
Police said a short circuit triggered the fire after which an oxygen cylinder inside the diagnostic centre had exploded.
Sanchal is survived by his wife, son and daughter. Police said forensic teams have collected samples and are probing the nature of explosion.
An officer said police would probe if the owner of the centre had taken all security clearances to run the centre from below his house.