A 35-year-old woman and her two daughters were charred to death while her husband and another daughter managed to escape after their car caught fire on the Akshardham flyover in east Delhi on Sunday.
The police received a call about a car going up in flames on the flyover at 6.33 p.m. and immediately rushed a PCR van to the spot. The fire department was also alerted.
Deputy Commissioner of Police (East) Jasmeet Singh said the car was being driven by Upendra Mishra, a resident of Loni in Ghaziabad. He along with his wife and three daughters were on their way to the Akshardham temple when the car caught fire, probably due to a leaking CNG cylinder.
The police identified the deceased as Ranjana Mishra and her two daughters aged 18 months and five years. The family was coming from Kalkaji temple in south Delhi.
When the car was going up the Akshardham flyover, it suddenly caught fire. Upendra manage to escape with his three-year-old daughter, who was sitting on the front seat, while his wife and two daughters on the back seat were trapped. He desperately tried to open the door to save them, but the fire had by then engulfed the whole car.
“The bodies have been shifted to GTB hospital for post-mortem. The exact cause of fire is yet to be ascertained. The car will be examined by experts to get more clarity in the case,” Mr. Singh said, adding that Upendra is a driver by profession and is in a state of shock.