A paralytic person was charred to death in a tragic fire incident that broke out in Central Delhi's Chandni Mahal late on Friday night. The deceased has been identified as 46-year-old .
According to the police, the fire broke out at around 11.40 pm and soon engulfed the house of Iqbal at the first floor. Iqbal was suffering from multiple ailments and was also paralytic. He was bed-ridden for moths now. When the incident happened, his family members were out to attend a function.
It was the neighbors who first spotted the fire. Onlookers said that the fire started from the window after the short circuit from a wire that crossed near it. Soon, the curtains of the window caught fire and within seconds, the fire spread to the woolen clothes in the room.
"Iqbal was ill and could not move. That's the reason why he could not save himself. We tried to save him but couldn't. We also tried to douse the fire but it was strong enough to sustain for some time," said Rizwan, a resident of Chandni Mahal where the incident happened.
Flames were seen coming out of the window and the locals did try to put water but the height of the first floor where Iqbal stayed put initial resistance. The locals gathered outside the house but seeing the intensity of the fire, no one dared to get in and waited for the fire tenders which took time to come.
Neighbours said that the residents of the second floor had to jump to nearby roofs to save their lives.
"The intensity of the fire forced the top floor residents to jump to roofs of other houses. No one was hurt. They feared that the fire might engulf the second floor and hence jumped for their lives," said one neighbour.
"It took some time for the fire tenders to reach the spot as the roads are narrow. However, by the time the flames were doused, the man was already charred to death," said a senior police officer. Iqbal was a car mechanic but due to his ailment, he was not working for the past one year. He is survived by his wife, three daughters and a son who were all out when the incident happened.