New Delhi: Thirty-five people, including a four-year-old girl, were rescued in Delhi's Mukherjee Nagar after a fire broke out at a women's paying guest facility. Firefighters were not the only ones involved in the rescue as they were supported by the locals who broke the door of the facility and rushed in to save people even as the blaze raged. The daring rescue op ensured that there were no casualties.
The fire started from an electric metre in the stilt area where old furniture and a rickshaw were parked, the Municipal Corporation of Delhi said in after an initial probe.
Mukherjee Nagar is 3.5 km from Delhi University and is a hub of paying guest accommodation for students and coaching centres.
Visuals from the site showed smoke and flames starting at the ground floor and then spreading to the three floors above. While the fire department sent 20 fire tenders to the site, only eight could reach the spot because of traffic congestion and narrow lanes.
Alert residents around the building gathered as soon as they saw the fire and decided to try and save the people trapped. A video shows of people breaking open the door of the PG which appears to be locked from inside.
The rescue ops were hampered by the fact that the building has just one staircase. Photos released by officials after the fire was doused show the charred interiors, including the staircase.
The Delhi Police has booked the owner of the paying guest facility.