A four-year-old boy died while his parents and 74-year-old grandmother are said to be critical after a fire broke out in R.K. Puram’s Sector 12 government quarters on Wednesday morning, the police said.
Deputy Commissioner of Police (South-West), Milind Dumbere said, “The boy, Abhinav Kumar, died due to asphyxiation. The three other family members are undergoing treatment.”
The blaze broke out due to a short circuit in the electric meter board, which is just below the family’s flat on the first floor, the police said.
Fire Department officials said the blaze then spread to two motorcycles parked in front of the board and blocked the only escape route. The family got trapped in their flat due to this.
A team of fire officers got into the house from the terrace and took the family to Safdarjung Hospital. Abhinav was declared brought dead, the police said.
They said Abhinav was asphyxiated due to smoke from burning tyres of bikes parked in front of the meter board.
Abhinav’s father Pankaj Kumar works at the Ministry of Commerce, while his mother Swati Kumar is with the Defence Ministry. His grandmother Darshana Kumar had come to visit the family on Tuesday.