New Delhi: A fierce blaze tore through a makeshift tin-shed warehouse used as an e-rickshaw charging and parking station near Ram Mandir on Moti Ram Road in Shahdara, in the early hours of Sunday, leaving two teenagers dead and four others severely burned.
The police were alerted about the incident through a PCR call at the Vivek Vihar Police Station.
According to the police, the call about a fire at the sugarcane juice vending and e-rickshaw facility was logged at 6:40 AM under Daily Diary number 23A, prompting fire crews to race to the scene within minutes.
By 6:41 AM, five fire tenders were battling flames that had engulfed approximately 300 square yards of the storeroom, igniting sugarcane juice machines and a cluster of charging e-rickshaws.
Firefighters brought the inferno under control by 8:30 AM, by which time two bodies were discovered among the charred remains of the structure.
Brijesh (19) and Maniram (18), both residents of Tikamgarh, Madhya Pradesh, were pronounced dead at the scene.
Four others, Harishankar (19), Rinku (18), Mukesh (22), and Vipin (19) were pulled from the wreckage with serious burn injuries ranging from seven to forty-five percent of their bodies and rushed by members of the public to GTB Hospital for treatment.
Preliminary investigations indicate that the tenant in charge of the warehouse, identified as Vinod Rathore, had been using the tin-shaded facility to store and charge multiple e-rickshaws alongside sugarcane juice vending equipment.
Officials suspect that an electrical short circuit in the charging station may have sparked the blaze, which rapidly spread through the highly flammable wooden supports and storage materials within the 400-square-yard compound.
Rathore, who was apprehended at the site, is currently in police custody as investigators gather evidence and assess potential violations of fire safety regulations. Witnesses described a scene of chaos and urgency as thick black smoke billowed into the morning sky.
“We heard a loud crackling noise and saw flames shooting up from the tin roof,” said one nearby shopkeeper. “The heat was so intense that even standing at a distance was dangerous.”
Fire crews had to navigate narrow lanes and overcome delays caused by parked vehicles to reach the inferno, underscoring longstanding concerns about emergency access in densely populated neighborhoods like Ram Nagar.
Delhi Fire Services officials said that legal action is being pursued against all parties responsible for the facility’s operation and maintenance.
Authorities have also launched a broader safety audit of similar e-rickshaw charging hubs across the city, noting that the combination of makeshift wiring, inadequate ventilation, and lack of fire extinguishers creates a high risk of catastrophic incidents. As the injured receive ongoing care at GTB Hospital, where doctors are monitoring them for signs of infection and complications, local residents have called for stricter enforcement of fire codes and regular inspections of informal commercial units.
Meanwhile, police continue to question witnesses and review video footage from nearby establishments to construct a detailed timeline of the events leading up to the tragedy.