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A powerful blaze ripped through a three-storey residential-cum-commercial building in outer Delhi's Kirari area, killing nine people including three children on 23 December, the Delhi Fire Service said.
According to the Delhi Fire Service, eight fire tenders were rushed to the spot after a call of fire at a house was received at 12.30 AM.
The ground floor of the building housed a godown for clothes while the other three floors were residential in nature.
The fire was brought under control by 3.50 AM, a Delhi Fire Service official said.
The deceased have been identified as Ram Chandra Jha (65), the building's owner, Sudariya Devi (58), Sanju Jha (36), Guddan and Uday Chaudhary (33) and his wife Muskan (26), their children Anjali (10), Adarsh (7) and six-month-old Tulsi.
The three persons who have been rescued by the officials were identified as Pooja (24) and her daughters Aaradhya (three) and Saumya (10).
No fire safety equipment was found in the building.
An official said that a cylinder blast on the second floor led to the partial collapse of the building. However, the cause behind the fire is being investigated.
Pooja's husband Amarnath Jha – the owner of the building – was in Haridwar at the time of the incident.\
The Delhi government has announced a Rs 10 lakh ex gratia to the next of kin of the deceased.
The incident comes days after 43 people were killed in a massive fire in a four-storey building housing illegal manufacturing units in north Delhi's Anaj Mandi area on 8 December.
(This is a developing story. Further details awaited.)
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