A 14-year-old girl and her nine-year-old brother were charred to death in a fire that broke out at their house in Punjabi Bagh’s Manohar Park on Sunday evening. Officials suspect the fire broke out due to a leak from an LPG cylinder in the house.
Police identified the victims as Sakshi Kumari, 14, and her brother, Akarsh Kumar, 9. The two of them stayed with their 11-year-old sister, Meenakshi Kumar, and parents Savita Devi and Lal Bahadur in a kitchen-cum-room arrangement on the terrace of a two-storey building, they said.
Police said Devi, 34, was cooking around 8pm when the incident took place, according to the version of events shared by the victims’ family. “She said the clothing around the area caught fire. At that time, her son and two daughters were present in the room. Devi and one of her daughters, Meenakshi, got out unharmed; however, her elder daughter Sakshi and son Akarsh got trapped in the fire,” deputy commissioner of police (west) Vichitra Veer said.
After the mother raised the alarm, the building owners and other tenants helped her retrieve the children and rushed them to Acharya Bhikshu Hospital in Moti Nagar, where they were declared dead due to 100% burns, the DCP said.
Lal Bahadur, 40, works as a private security guard in Ashok Park Main and was at work at the time of the incident.
Eleven-year-old Meenakshi, sitting on the staircase of her residential building, said exam results for both her siblings were declared on Friday and both secured first rank at their respective government schools. “They told our mother that they wanted to celebrate by eating cottage cheese. The mother agreed and bought it from the market. She was going to prepare it for dinner for all of us,” she said.
She said that after peeling vegetables, their mother went out to wash her hands—the family shared a wash basin with other residents—and the three of them were inside. “My brother and I were on the bed watching something on the phone and my sister went towards the stove to help mom in cooking. My mother had not returned. Sakshi went to ignite the lighter and as soon as she did it, the fire broke out,” Meenakshi said.
The girl recalled running out of the room in a reflex action but said her sister could not escape because Sakshi tried to save Akarsh first, as the stove was kept at the entrance of the room.
“People came to help but the flames were so strong that no one could go in. We were trying to douse the fire by pouring water from the inside,” said Anita Pathak, 40, the house owner.
Her husband Sandeep Pathak sustained minor burns while trying to douse the fire and helped rescue the kids. “We tried but we couldn’t save them,” he said, adding he suffered burns to his face and hand.
Delhi Fire Service director Atul Garg said that two fire tenders were pressed into service upon receiving the call.
Police said that the cause of the fire is suspected to be a leak from the LPG cylinder. “The cylinder may have been left opened. The scene of crime has been inspected. Further probe is underway,” an investigator said.
When HT visited the spot on Monday, the mother had not been informed that the children had died, her family said.
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