In a tragic incident, four members of a family died after a fire broke out on the third floor of a building in East Delhi’s Old Seemapuri area on early hours of Tuesday. Police said that the incident took place when the victims were asleep.

The deceased have been identified as Horilal (59), his wife Reena (55), their son Ashu (24) and daughter Rohini (18). The family members were sleeping on the third floor of the house, while their 22-year-old son Akshay had a narrow escape as he was sleeping on the second floor.

According to Atul Kumar Thakur, the Director, Delhi Fire Service (DFS), a call about the fire was received at around 4 AM following which four fire tenders with 16 fire-fighters were rushed to the spot.

“Domestic articles in a room on the third floor of the house caught fire, resulting in the death of four people. The victims were found dead on the spot.

The building comprised ground plus three floors and situated in an area of about 25 square yards,” said Garg adding that it was a minor fire.

The fire official, however, has ruled out any incident of short-circuit and based on their preliminary inquiry, they suspect that either a mosquito coil or an ‘agarbatti’ (incense stick) kept in the room could have sparked the fire which spread to the clothes kept on the table and later to the curtains.

“A police team and DFS staff reached the spot immediately and the fire was brought under control. The crime team, officials from Forensic Science Laboratory and other senior officials also visited the scene of incidence,” said R Sathiyasundaram, the Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP), Shahdara.

Police said the fire might have broke out and spread across the third floor of the building. The victims did sustain burn injuries and might have died due to suffocation after inhaling smoke, but only the post-mortem report will be able to ascertain the exact cause of death and ascertain the extent of burn injuries.

Akshay, the only surviving member of the family, works as a labourer in Sahibabad in Uttar Pradesh. He had come home post midnight after work. He went to the third floor to get food and later slept on the second floor. He survived since the fire did not spread from the third floor of the building, police said.

Horilal was working as a peon in Shastri Bhawan, Delhi and was due to retire in March 2022. His wife worked as a sweeper in MCD. His daughter was a class 12 student at a Government school while his son was unemployed.