90-yr-old dies of asphyxiation after fire breaks out in Ggn flat

A fire broke out early morning on Monday in Vatika City society on Sohna road in Gurgaon, killing a 90-year-old bed-ridden man who died due to smoke inhalation.

The fire headquarters in Sector 29 received a call at 5.42 am, that the store room-cum-prayer room in the flat on the second floor of the building caught fire during Navratri prayers organised by a family of three. The store room also had books and old newspapers which caught fire from the akhand jyoth that was lit for the prayers.

The deceased, identified as Phool Singh Kataria, was known to be a relative of former Haryana sports minister Sukhbir Singh Kataria. According to the police, the deceased was sleeping in another room when the store room caught fire. He did not suffer any burns but fell ill because of the smoke and was rushed to the nearby Park hospital, where he was declared dead due to asphyxia later in the afternoon.

As soon as the fire department received the call, a fire tender rushed to the spot from Bheem Nagar. Two more fire tenders and a team of fire fighters, led by fire safety officer IS Kashyap, were later sent in when another call for more fire tenders was made at 6.10 am. By 6.30 am the fire was doused, police said.

“The two family members were rescued as they ran out of the house hearing the glass windows crack because of the heat, but the old man was left in the other room. There were no injuries. He died due to asphyxia,” said Vijay Kumar, SHO Sadar police station.

Eyewitnesses said when the neighbours saw flames rising from the flat, security guards were called in, who succeeded in rescuing the deceased’s son Harjit Kataria and daughter-in-law. But they could not spot the bed-ridden man. “He could not be spotted by the guards as the flat was engulfed with smoke,” said a fire official.