Toddler Among 9 Dead After Suspected AC Blast Triggers Fire in Delhi Residential Building

NEW DELHI, May 3: Nine people, including a one-and-a-half-year-old child, died and two others were injured after a massive fire broke out in a four-storey residential building in Vivek Vihar early Sunday morning.

The fire erupted around 4 am on the second floor and quickly spread to the third and fourth floors. Officials said 14 fire tenders were rushed to the site, and the blaze was brought under control after nearly two hours, by 6 am. More than a dozen residents were rescued during the operation.

The deceased have been identified, with the highest number of casualties reported from the second floor, where five members of the Jain family died: Arvind Jain (60), Anita Jain (58), Nishant Jain (35), Anchal Jain (33), and their infant son Akash Jain (1.5 years).

On the third floor, three members of another Jain family—Nitin Jain (50), Shailey Jain (48), and their son Samyak Jain (25)—lost their lives. On the first floor, Sikha Jain (40) died, while her husband Naveen Jain (48) was injured and is undergoing treatment at Guru Teg Bahadur Hospital.

Officials said search and rescue operations continued after the fire was doused, and all bodies have been recovered and handed over to the Delhi Police crime team.

Deputy Commissioner of Police (Shahdara) Rajendra Prasad Meena said the fire call was received around 4 am, after which fire services and police teams were immediately deployed. “It took about two hours to bring the fire under control, followed by search operations,” he said.

Visuals from the site showed extensive damage, with parts of the building charred and smoke emerging from the upper floors.

Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta described the incident as “extremely tragic” and expressed condolences to the bereaved families. She said senior officials from the administration, fire services, disaster management authority, and police were engaged in rescue and relief efforts, and that the situation was being closely monitored.

While the exact cause of the fire is still under investigation, some residents claimed it may have been triggered by an air conditioner blast. (Agencies)