Palam Fire Toll Climbs To 9; CM Orders Magisterial Probe

The death toll in the fire at a multi-storey residential building in Delhi’s Palam area rose to nine on Wednesday, prompting Chief Minister Rekha Gupta to order a magisterial inquiry.

The fire broke out at a cloth shop in Ram Market, Palam, in the morning, affecting a four-storey building at WZ-124A, Ram Chowk Market.

The basement, ground floor, and first floor housed a cloth and cosmetic showroom owned by Rajender Kashyap, who is also the Market Pradhan, while his family resided on the upper floors.

Police received information about the blaze around 07:04 AM, after which the SHO and staff rushed to the scene.

Rescue operations involved Delhi Fire Service, Delhi Police, BSES, Air Force Police, and the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), with 20 fire tenders and 11 CATS ambulances deployed.

Rescue teams evacuated several residents and shifted them to nearby hospitals. Manipal Hospital declared eight people dead, including three minor girls aged 3, 6, and 15.

IGI Hospital declared one woman, Deepika (28), dead, while other patients received treatment for burn injuries. Safdarjung Hospital admitted a man named Sachin (29) with 25 per cent burns.

Chief Minister Gupta expressed her distress on social media, stating that the administration, fire services, and police led the rescue operations and had ordered a magisterial probe.

Rescue teams have now brought the fire under control. Authorities have called a Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) team to inspect the site, and investigators are continuing efforts to determine the cause.

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