3 children of family die in New Usmanpur slum fire

Three siblings, including a six-month-old boy, were charred, while another child was injured when a fire broke out in a slum cluster in the New Usmanpur area. Police said the inferno broke out around 11.30 pm on Saturday night, in which over a dozen shanties were gutted. 

The police suspect short circuit and explosion in three gas cylinders caused the fire. Eight fire tenders were rushed to the spot, which took around three hours to douse the balze, a fire department official said. 

The three killed have been identified as Reena (10), Meena (7) and six-month-old Mubarak. Their father Raqib, a native of West Bengal, had come to Delhi 10 years ago hoping for a better future for his family, but on Sunday he had to carry bodies of his children. The incident has left his wife severely traumatised, who is admitted to a hospital.

Another child in their neighbourhood, Shakhuddin, who was trapped inside a burning shanty has suffered 60  per cent burns and is admitted to a hospital, police said. Shakhuddin’s father Allah Rakha also suffered injuries while trying to save the children. Two buffaloes were also killed in the inferno, fire officials said.

Meanwhile, Delhi Commission for Women (DCW) chairperson Swati Maliwal visited the slum cluster to take stock of the situation. Maliwal said she will take up the matter with the Delhi State Legal Services Authority (DLSA) and seek compensation for the victims’ family .

“Though nothing can compensate such a huge loss (of lives), we will write to the DLSA seeking compensation for the family of the victims,” Maliwal said. She added it is the “saddest” thing that could ever happen to a family. “The family is very poor, they had a tarpaulin sheet on their head. So when it burnt, the mother managed to escape but it fell on the children. The mother is inconsolable,” she said.