One dead in Chandni Chowk fire

A man died and several shops were gutted when a fire broke out in a building in New Delhi’s Chandni Chowk on Monday afternoon.

The deceased, 21-year-old Rohit Kumar, worked as an office boy in one of the shops located on the third floor of the building.

Mr. Kumar, from Muzaffarpur in Bihar, was working there for the past six months, said Deputy Commissioner of Police (North) Jatin Narwal.

The fire broke out around 12.55 p.m. in the building which has over two dozen shops, most of them jewellery shops, in Kucha Mahajani in Chandni Chowk, the police said.

It is suspected that the fire started in the air conditioning network which later spread across three floors and engulfed the building.

The fire department was alerted and 22 firefighters reached the spot to start an operation that lasted for over five hours.

“We sent extra tenders as the building is located in a narrow alley which does not allow fire tenders to move freely and hence arrangement for adequate supply of water has to be made,” Chief Fire Officer Atul Garg said.

The firefighters rescued Mr. Kumar who was on the third floor.

He was rushed him to Lok Nayak Hospital where he was declared brought dead.

“While most of us got out, Mr. Kumar re-entered the building to try and save some of his belongings but due to the smoke, he fell unconscious. He was rescued and sent to a hospital,” said Yogesh Singal, president of the bullion and jewellers association.