NEW DELHI: A fire, which police speculate was fanned by Monday night’s dust storm, took the lives of two men sleeping in an
ambulance in Sheikh Sarai. A third man, badly injured by the fire, is on ventilator support at Safdarjung Hospital. A mosquito coil burning in the vehicle in which the men were sleeping may have set the foaming seating aflame. The strong winds stoked the fire and spread it to two other ambulances parked on either side.
The fire broke out close to midnight on Monday night. According to family members, the men had never earlier slept in the ambulance, which was parked in a DDA park in Sheikh Sarai in south Delhi. Rahul Saxena (24) and Guddu (24) were burnt to death while asleep in the back seat. Subodh (40) is battling for life in hospital with 98% burns. The cops conjectured that the men lost consciousness when the burning foam emitted noxious gases and so could not escape the blaze.
“At least four fire tenders were rushed to the spot and it took half an hour to douse the flames,” said a Delhi Fire Service officer. He added that they had retrieved two charred bodies from the ambulance, while the third man, badly burnt, was taken to hospital by the police control room van.
Police said that a case against unknown persons was registered at Malviya Nagar police station for negligent conduct with respect to fire or combustible matter (Section 285 of the Indian Penal Code), causing grievous hurt by act endangering life or personal safety of others (338) and causing death due to negligence(304 A).
Romil Baaniya, DCP (South), said that a Central Forensic Science Laboratory team has been requested to inspect the fire site to determine the cause of the blaze.
The cops are also trying to ascertain if the door of the ambulance was locked from outside.
SC Rana, who owns a fleet of around 25 ambulances, said that he left for home half an hour before the fire broke out. The ambulance service provides free assistance to Delhi Police in accident cases, but charges people a fee for ferrying patients. Another of Rana’s employees disclosed that he and his friends were the first ones to detect the fire.
“We woke up on hearing the sound of the glass breaking,” said Hemant, also an ambulance driver. “We saw the ambulance on fire. Realising there were men sleeping inside, collected water and tried in vain to pull out the three men.”
According to the cops, Guddu and Saxena lived in Khanpur in south Delhi, while Subodh lived in Sangam Vihar. Speaking to TOI, Saxena’s mother, Sushila, recalled having a conversation an hour before police told her about the fire. “My son told me about the dust storm and said he would call me back in the morning,” said the mother, who despairs now of supporting her two others sons — one a Class XII student and the other a BSc student — without the help of Saxena, who was the only earner in the fatherless family.
Illustration for representational purpose.