Delhi: Tragedy averted, 50 girls rescued from blaze in Janakpuri hostel

New Delhi, May 29: Fifty girls had a narrow escape when a fire broke out in their hostel near the Janakpuri metro station in West Delhi in the early hours on Wednesday morning, the Delhi Fire Service said.

Six of the girls were taken to a nearby hospital due to problems caused by smoke inhalation and were discharged later, Chief Fire Officer Atul Garg said. However, no one was injured in the incident, police said. The fire broke out in an electric panel at the basement entry of the hostel and was brought under control by 3.30 am, a fire officer added.

The fire department said they received a call about the blaze at 3 am, following which four fire-tenders rushed to the spot. Janakpuri police station was informed regarding fire at around 3.05 am. On reaching the spot, it was found that there was fire in the ground floor of Kaveri Hostel. All the girls have already evacuated the hostel building, police said. Fire-tenders and a CATS Ambulance were rushed to the spot.

Prima facie it appears that the fire was due to short circuit in electricity meter installed at the basement. The site has been inspected from Crime Team of West District and FSL teams as well, Monika Bhardwaj, Deputy Commissioner of Police (west) said. Most of the girls were sleeping at the time of the incident.

Smoke from the fire in the basement spread to other floors, while the fire was contained in the basement, he said. "I was sleeping in my room when I heard people shouting, 'A fire has broken out'. When I came out of the room, I could see smoke all around. I jumped from the window of the opposite room. I saw around six to seven girls escaping from a window in front of me. No one was injured. They are safe," said one of the girls, who was present in the hostel.

A girl, who called up police to inform about the incident, said, "There was sparking in the meter panel located in the basement. The fire started from there and then spread to other floors. All of us are safe and no one sustained injuries."

A fire officer said one girl managed to jump from the first floor and landed at the guard room. The height of the window was not much and she did not sustain any severe injury. Manish Kumar Singh, a representative of the Arya Hospital, where some of the girls were admitted, said he was at the hospital when six girls were brought in.

They complained of breathing problems and were treated, he said. The girls were identified as Shreya, Ariba, Moksha, Nabhya, Kanika and Anukrita. "No one sustained any burn injuries. They had issues in breathing as they had inhaled smoke. One among them, Shreya, sustained minor head injuries as she jumped from the window of a room," he said.

PTI