Delhi 10th-floor duplex fire: How a family gathering in Dwarka turned tragic

11 family members and a domestic help had gathered at the duplex flat for a religious event. The fire erupted in the front balcony and quickly spread through the house. Police are still trying to establish how the blaze started.

A father, his 11-year-old daughter and nephew died after jumping from the balcony of a 10th-floor duplex flat in a desperate attempt to escape a massive fire that had broken out on Tuesday morning, trapping 12 others inside with no escape and no help. The incident took place at Shabad Apartment in Dwarka’s Sector 13.

As per a report by TOI, 11 family members and a domestic help had gathered at the duplex flat for a religious event. The fire erupted in the front balcony and quickly spread through the house. Police are still trying to establish how the blaze started.

The deceased was identified as Yash Yadav, 40, his daughter Amisha and nephew Shivam. The children died on the spot and Yash succumbed to his injuries later in hospital.

“A call was received at 10.01am. Immediately, 13 fire tenders were rushed to the spot along with 88 firefighters tasked with dousing the fire and rescuing those trapped," Delhi Fire Services Director Atul Garg was quoted by TOI as saying.

According to family members TOI spoke to, the flames were first spotted around 9.40 am when some people were still in bed. Yash's wife, Mamta, and her sister immediately raised the alarm after noticing the flames near the balcony in the front.

Yash asked everyone to take the internal staircase to reach the upper level of the duplex and climb to the terrace, the report added.

"I managed to reach the terrace but found no one had followed me,” the deceased’s elder son, 18-year-old Aditya, was quoted by TOI.

While, Mamta, her sister, and a few others managed to escape after reaching the stairwell, some other family members were rescued by residents. Initially, Yash was trying to help others escape but as the flames spread, he was trapped in the rear balcony with the children. As the three were cornered by the fire, all three jumped in a desperate attempt to survive. The video of the incident where the duplex flat is seen engulfed in flames shows that Shivam jumped first, followed by Ashima and then Yash, the report added.

As per the report, Vikas Chauhan, who lives on the ground floor, was getting ready for work when he heard the commotion.

“They were shouting for help. The glass on the windows started cracking and exploding because of the heat,” he was quoted by TOI.

“We were yelling, telling them to wait, screaming that the fire brigade had reached. Had they waited for a few minutes more, we could have stretched out a bedsheet or something to break their fall. They thought they had run out of time,” Vikas added. He also pointed to the decrepit condition of the building’s fire safety system.

“If the hose pipes on the upper floors had worked, the firefighters could have started controlling the fire there itself. Instead, they had to carry the pipe up. All residents were evacuated and power and gas supply shut down,” additional DCP (Dwarka) Nishant Gupta was quoted by TOI.

“DDA and MCD have been asked to assess the stability of the structure,” he added. The fire was completely doused around 11.20am. A case of negligence has been registered and an investigation is under way to determine the exact cause of the fire.