Delhi Mundka fire: Distraught relatives of victims look for loved ones at hospital

New Delhi, May 14: The distraught relatives of the victims of a fire incident in a commercial building at Delhi's Mundka thronged the Sanjay Gandhi Hospital on Friday night looking for their family members.

One of them, Ajit Tiwari, said his sister Monika (21) is missing since the incident. "She started working at a CCTV camera packaging unit last month and received her first salary on Thursday. We got to know about the fire at 5 pm, but had no idea that the blaze occurred at her office building. When she did not return home by 7 pm, we started looking for her," Tiwari said.

Monika lives with her two brothers and a sister at Delhi's Agar Nagar. She hails from Gonda district in Uttar Pradesh. Another woman was frantically looking for her elder daughter who also works at the CCTV camera packaging unit.

"My daughter Pooja has been working at the CCTV camera packaging unit for the last three months. We live in Mubarakpur and got to know about the incident at 9 pm. She has a cut mark below her left eye. We are looking for her at various hospitals. She is the sole breadwinner of our family of four. Her two younger sisters study in a school," the woman said.

A massive fire ripped through a three-storey commercial building near the Mundka metro station in west Delhi on Friday evening, leaving at least 27 people dead and 12 injured, police said. Around 60-70 people have been rescued from the building, they said, adding that some were still trapped inside.

According to fire department officials, information about the blaze was received around 4.40 pm following which 24 fire tenders were rushed to the spot. Ankit, who works at one of the offices in the building, said a motivational session was going on at the second floor when the fire broke out. "I am very fortunate that I am alive. I could have also lost my life. A motivational session was going on at the second floor of the building when we noticed the blaze. We broke the glass windows and somehow managed to escape," he said.

Another man said his aunt is missing. Police said at least 27 people were killed and 12 injured in the fire. They did not, however, specify other details such as the gender or the age of the victims. The building in which the fire broke out is located near pillar number 544 of the Mundka metro station.