6 injured in fire at girls hostel in Janakpuri, 50 evacuated

New Delhi: It was around 3 am at night. Some girls in the Kaveri girls hostel of West Delhi's Janakpuri were awake while most of them slept. Suddenly they found hard to breathe as dark black smoke filled their rooms on the first floor.

It took them less than a minute to realise that fire has engulfed the basement and the situation might worsen very soon. With the Surat coaching centre fire tragedy still fresh in the memory the girls, they panicked. Some cried for help and some called their near and dear ones for help including the hostel management.

The next hour was full of anxiety, panic and horror for close to 50 girls present in the hostel. The fire brigade office was informed and fire tenders immediately rushed to the spot to douse the flames that seemed to have started fro the basement.

Six inmates of a girls hostel were hospitalised after being rescued from a major fire that engulfed their hostel in Janakpuri area of West Delhi. More than 50 other hostelers were evacuated safely.

"The fire would have started at around 2:30 am. We were inside our room. Later we heard many shrieks and cries from the ground, we did ot know exactly what happened. Later, it became clear that there is fire, It was then we rushed out to save ourselves," said a girl from the hostel.

The girls, however, found it hard to come down as the fire has already appearing big downstairs.

By the time the fire brigade arrived, the fire had spread. Sources said that some girls even jumped from the first floor to the roof of the guard room to save themselves.

They escaped with minor injuries.

"The fire was reported at 3.05 a.m. Over 50 girls have been evacuated and some others have been admitted to the hospital," said Atul Garg, Director, Delhi Fire Service.

According to officials, it was sparked by a short circuit in the basement of the building and soon spread to the ground and first floors.

"I was informed about the fire in the hostel at night by the hostel warden. I immediately rushed to the hostel where the Fire brigade was already doing its job. It was later found that the fire originated through an electric meter downstairs and spread. When the smoke went up, the children panicked. Since the recent tragedy in the coaching in Surat was still afresh, the girls were nervous. We rushed and caught hold of the girls," said Kiran, Dharmadhikari, Incharge, Kaveri Girls hostel.

The incident came days after 22 teenage students, including 18 girls, were killed in a blaze at a coaching centre in Sarthana area of Gujarat's Surat.