NEW DELHI: The NHRC on Tuesday said it has issued a notice to the Delhi government and the city’s police chief over the death of nine members of a family in a fire incident in Palam area earlier this month, and sought a detailed report on it in two weeks.
Reportedly, the fire brigade teams’ hydraulic crane allegedly “developed some technical snag” resulting in delayed rescue operation. Locals have said that timely functioning of the equipment could have saved more lives, the National Human Rights Commission said in a statement.
A 70-year-old woman and three young girls -- one just three years old, of the family were killed in the massive fire that tore through a four-storey residential building in southwest Delhi’s Palam area on March 18 morning.
The NHRC said it has taken suo motu cognisance of a media report that nine members of a family died and three others sustained injures in the fire.
The Commission has observed that the content of the news report, if true, raise a serious issue of violation of human rights.
Therefore, it has issued notices to the chief secretary and the commissioner of police of Delhi, seeking a detailed report on it within two weeks. It is expected to include the status of compensation disbursement to the aggrieved and the injured persons, the statement said.
According to the media report, carried on March 19, the fire started around 6:15 am, allegedly due to short circuit. It started from a shop on the ground floor and quickly spread to the residential floors above.
Reportedly, the locals tried to rescue the trapped persons by breaking windows and walls of the house. A few got injured while they were reportedly trying to escape or rescue others, it said.