A photographer, his wife and two of their children in Delhi's Dwarka died after suffocating in a fire that broke out at their house due to a sh🔯ort circuit in an inverter in the wee hours of Tuesday, June 25ꦬ.
A Delhi Fire Services (DFS) official said the department was informed about the fire around 3.30 am and two fire🍌 tenders were sent to the spot.
The deceased were identified as Heera Singh Kakkar (48), his wife Neetu (40) and their sons Robin (22🤪) and Lakshay (21), news agency PTI quoted police as saying.
Kakkar was a photographer by profession and the house was owned by the fa🎃mily, police said.
According to the DFS official, the fire erupted on the first floor of the two-storey hou𝔉se from💛 a an inverter and it spread to an adjacent sofa, leading to the four victims inhaling smoke.
The firefighters had to cut through an iron gate, which was locked from inside, to enter the house, which hindered thﷺe operation, the officials of police and fire department told PTI.
While flames were doused within a few minutes, there was a lot of smoke inside the house🉐, the DFS official said.
Describing the incident, re🥃latives of the family said they started hearing noises around 2.15 am from the house.
Kakkar's brother Gurmeet, who stays in tᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚ𒀱ᩚᩚᩚhe adjacent flat, said, "I was sleeping when I heard the screaming voice of Heeraℱ. I tried to open the main gate of their house, which was locked from inside, but was unable to."
"With help of local residents, we called the police and fire bridge team. By the time they arrived, the family members had fallen unconscious and were found lying on the f𓄧loor," Gurmeet said.
He further said that the fire department took only five to seven minutes to douse the flames. Another relative of the family, wh🦋o wished not to be named, said he got a call at about 2.30 am from Lakshay, who was screaming over the phone for help and inform𝔉ed him about the fire.
"By the time we reached the spot, 🅠they had all suffocated to death," he added🐻.
The victims were taken to the Rao Tularam Memorial Hospital, where doctorsꦍ declared them dead, the officials said.
Kakkar's mother Sita Devi was sleeping on the ground floor of the building, a poli🥃ce officer said, adding that she was unharmed.
The bodies were shifted to a mortuary for postmortem. A case under relevant sections is being registered and further probe is underway, t🃏he police said.
Kamaljeet Sehrawat, general secretar🍨y of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Delhi unit and West Delhi M🌟P, also visited Prem Nagar to assess the situation and offered condolences to the family's kin.
Sehrawat termed the incident tragic and vowed to provide every possible assistance to the bereaved ✱family.
Accordi♐ng to a senior police officer, prima facie, the cause of the fire was due to a short circuit in the inverter. However, the a💯ctual reason will be ascertained once the probe is completed.
The officer said the police are conducting inquest proceedings as no foul play has been found so far. "A case may be registeredꦡ if any f💮oul play is revealed in the postmortem report or any other cause of fire is found in the probe," the officer said.
