Fireman dies in action, 21 hurt
A 59-year-old fireman and at least 21 persons, including 14 personnel from various government agencies, were injured when a major fire broke out in a two-storey building in east Delhi on Tuesday night.
Fire officials said the incident was reported at 1 am from a shoe storage facility in Vishwas Nagar area of east Delhi. “More than 25 fire tenders were rushed to the spot and they started dousing the fire at about 1.10 am,” said a senior Delhi fire service official.
As the officials from the fire services, Delhi police, National Disaster Management Authority and BSES discom began the rescue operation, an explosion caused the roof of the two-storey building to collapse and some rescue workers were trapped under the debris.
A fire officer, Nand Kishore Tiwari, was injured. He was declared dead after being rushed to the LNJP Hospital. A resident of east Delhi’s Laxmi Nagar area, Tiwari had been with DFS for 35 years. He has five daughters two of whom are yet to be married.
“While we were trying to douse the fire in the building’s basement, an explosion sent an iron shutter crashing towards the officials involved in the operation and Tiwari was critically hurt. One fire tender was completely destroyed in the explosion,” the official said.
According to officials, five DFS officials, four Delhi police officers, four NDMA officials, a BSES staffer and seven onlookers were injured due to the explosion. The injured are recovering at the LNJP Hospital and are stated to be out of danger. “A compensation of `5.5 lakhs will be given to Tiwari’s family in addition to a job to any qualified family member,” said director, DFS, R.C Sharma. The cause of the fire is yet to be ascertained.
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