A middle-aged woman seated outside Sanjay Gandhi Memorial Hospital in Mangolpuri since Friday night breaks down every now and then as she waits for word on her elder daughter Pooja, who is among 29 people still missing after the building where she worked caught fire on Friday afternoon.
Pooja, 19, had recently started working at a CCTV camera and router assembly unit operating out of a four-storey building in Mundka. A fire suspected to have started from an AC has claimed at least 27 lives.
Pooja was the family’s sole breadwinner, her mother said. “She used to say, you don’t have to work, I will earn money. Her father died in 2012. I used to work as a house help and earn a meagre amount. But since she got the job, she was handling everything,” she said, wiping away tears.
Her younger daughter, 18-year-old Pinky, too broke down. “Where is she?” she said, eyes swollen from crying.
According to the fire department, charred human remains were found in the building on Saturday morning. Twelve injured are in hospital.
“The building had a single escape route, which is why there were so many casualties. Twenty-seven people have died,” chief fire officer Atul Garg said, adding that an explosion in an AC is believed to have started the fire.
Police said seven of the dead have been identified as Tania Bhushan, Mohini Pal, Yashoda Devi, Ranju Devi, Vishal, Drishti and Kailash Jyani.
Most of the dead were found on the second floor.
The building did not have a no-objection certificate from the fire department.
Harish Goel and his brother Varun, owners of the CCTV camera and router manufacturing and assembling unit, have been arrested, deputy commissioner of police (outer) Sameer Sharma said.
Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal and his deputy Manish Sisodia visited the spot on Saturday. The chief minister announced a compensation of Rs 10 lakh each for the kin of the deceased and Rs 50,000 for those injured in the fire, which started from the first floor of the building.
The building’s owner, Manish Lakra, has also been booked, the police said.
