New Delhi: A woman and her 15-year-old daughter died due to suffocation after a fire broke out in a building here on Tuesday, a Delhi Fire Services (DFS) official said.

Two others, including a two-and-half-month-old baby, have been hospitalised.

The DFS official told IANS that they received a phone call at around 7am about the fire in a foam mattress godown on the ground floor of a four-storey building in Nihal Vihar, West Delhi.

The victims were staying on floors above the godown.

About nine fire tenders were rushed to the spot and the blaze was doused by 8.30am, the official said. The cause of the fire was yet to be ascertained.

Separately, victims of road accidents, fire and acid attacks will get medical treatment in all city hospitals at government expense, regarding which a scheme was approved by the Delhi cabinet on Tuesday.

“The cabinet today (Tuesday) approved the Accident Victims Scheme which will be implemented after approval from the Lt Governor (Anil Baijal),” Health Minister Satyendar Jain told the media here.

“The government will pay the hospital expenses of any individual — from Delhi or outside — who is injured in an accident on any city road,” he said.

He said almost 8,000 accidents occur every year in the capital, with around 20,000 people getting injured. On an average, 1,600 of them die.

“Victims are usually taken to government hospitals to save on money, skipping nearby private hospitals. Unfortunately, many people die since they are unable to get medical assistance within the golden hour. This scheme will help save people’s lives,” Jain said.

Indo-Asian News Service