No factory licence, no building plan, no safety
A day after a massive fire killed 27 people at a four-storey building in West Delhi’s Mundka, charred remains of two-three others were recovered on Saturday, with many of the dead yet to be identified amid a hectic investigation that focused on serious violations of building and fire rules, officials said.
The Delhi Police said 19 people were reported missing till Saturday evening, with the identification process of many bodies still underway. The fire, which broke out at the illegal building near the Mundka Metro station on Friday evening, was likely caused by a short-circuit on the first floor, the police said.
On Saturday, as a team carried out search operations on the second floor of the building, they found charred human remains that, according to officials, could be of two-three more people killed in the blaze.
The North Municipal Corporation of Delhi said a preliminary investigation found that the commercial building was operating without a factory licence, sanctioned building plan and basic safety measures. A Delhi Fire Services (DFS) official said the building did not have firefighting arrangements and it never applied for a fire clearance inspection. “The building only had one entry-exit door. The occupants of the building were trapped because the fire started from the first floor and engulfed the staircase that was the only exit route. The charred remains of two-three bodies were found on the second floor on Saturday. Most of the badly charred bodies were found on that floor only,” said DFS chief Atul Garg.
Of the 27 declared dead, eight people have so far been identified by their family members with the help of ornaments and other items on their bodies, the police said. “I was able to able identify my wife with the gold bangle I had gifted her in January. The design had two turtles. There was no other way I could have identified her,” said Vijay Pal, husband of Mohini Pal (42), who died in the inferno.
The Mundka blaze is the deadliest since the 2019 factory fire at Anaj Mandi when 43 people were killed. The 27 confirmed fatalities make Friday’s incident the second-deadliest since the 1999 Lal Kuan chemical market fire when 57 people were killed. Many of the bodies were charred beyond identification. The bodies have been preserved at the mortuary of Sanjay Gandhi Memorial Hospital for the identification purposes, the police said. Genetic testing will be conducted on the bodies to establish their identities, said officials.