Fire breaks out in residential building in Delhi's Saket Court area, 83-year-old dead in blaze

New Delhi: A 83-year-old wheelchair-bound man, the father-in-law of an additional district and session judge, was killed, while she and her three other family members were rescued after a fire broke out at a house inside a residential complex in south Delhi's Saket Court on Saturday, officials said.

The deceased, identified as Ashok Talwar, died allegedly due to suffocation after inhaling smoke. He was wheelchair-bound and lived with his son, daughter-in-law and two grandchildren inside the residential complex, they said.

The Fire Department received a call around 5.23 pm about the blaze at the house on the fourth floor of block C, they said. Seven fire tenders were rushed to the spot and the blaze was doused, fire officials said.

A book shelf, cupboard, inverter and other materials kept inside a store room of the house had caught fire, they said.

Four people trapped inside the house were safely rescued by the firemen. The elderly man was found unconscious at the spot and was immediately rushed to the Max Hospital where he was declared brought dead, a senior police officer said.

He died after allegedly inhaling smoke, police said, adding that further investigation is underway. An electrical fault is suspected to be the cause of fire, they added.

Advocate Dhir Singh Kasana, Secretary, Saket Bar Association said, "A fire broke out at the residence of the additional district and session judge posted who is posted at Saket Court."

"The fire began from the invertor in of the rooms and unfortunately, her father-in-law, who was wheelchair-bound died in the fire incident while her family members, her husband and two children, were safely rescued by the fire personnel," he said.