Fire, explosions at Delhi’s Azad Market raze 3 buildings, hurt 5
NEW DELHI: At least 14 people, including six firefighters and a policeman, were injured and three buildings came crashing down in two incidents of fire and cylinder blasts at Azad Market in north Delhi and Anand Parbat Industrial Area in central Delhi in the early hours of Saturday, fire and police departments said. No casualties were reported in either incident.
At Azad market, the fire and subsequent cylinder blasts razed three buildings — three-storey structures housing nearly a dozen shops — and also affected a residential building across the road whose occupants cleared their homes and rushed out to the lanes after the blaze spread to a godown and offices on the ground and first floors.
The blasts also caused cracks in a few adjacent buildings housing shops, with a fire department official saying that two buildings adjacent to the collapsed structures were badly damaged.
Deputy commissioner of police (north) Sagar Singh Kalsi said they received a call regarding the fire at 4.40am, following which a police team rushed there. “Five people suffered minor injuries in a cylinder blast in an adjoining welding shop,” said Kalsi. It was not immediately clear who the five injured persons were.
Five fire tenders were brought in to douse the flames, with teams from the Delhi Disaster Management Authority and National Disaster Response Force working along with firefighters and police personnel to remove debris of the collapsed buildings.
“A case has been filed under IPC sections 285 (negligent conduct with respect to fire or combustible matter), 336 (whoever does any act so rashly or negligently as to endanger human life or the personal safety of others), 337. Legal action is being initiated,” said Kalsi.
Fire officials said they are yet to ascertain the cause of the fire.
Some residents claimed the flames reached up to their balconies, with the fire shattering window panes and damaging electric appliances like air conditioners and washing machines.
“Being the month of Ramzan, our was awake and preparing for the morning prayer when we saw the fire... We informed the police and fire department. While the firefighting operation was on, at least three blasts took place and three buildings came crashing down,” said Mohammad Alam, who lives with his wife and two children on the second floor of the building.
Residents said property worth several lakhs were gutted in the incident.
Meanwhile, at Anand Parbat Industrial Area, a fire broke out in an electrical items manufacturing factory, following which nine people were injured when LPG cylinders inside exploded during dousing operations.
The nine included six firefighters, a policeman, one person associated with the factory and a security guard.
Delhi Fire Services chief Atul Garg said, “We have admitted the injured firemen at a private hospital near Karol Bagh. The fire is under control now.”
The fire department are yet to ascertain the cause of the fire.