27 Dead And 12 Injured In Delhi Mundka Fire, Two People Arrested

At least 27 people have died and 12 injured in a fire which broke out in a commercial building near Mundka Metro station in Delhi on May 13.

A National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) team is on site to conduct search and rescue operation with the death toll likely to rise.

Deputy Commissioner of Police (Delhi Outer) Sameer Sharma said that the fire broke out in the first-floor office of a CCTV camera and router manufacturing company.

The fire department began receiving distress call from about 4.40 pm on Friday and rushed 24 fire tenders to the spot. People resorted to jumping off the building while some used ropes to climb down the building.

Police have arrested brothers Harish Goel and Varun Goel who own the CCTV manufacturing company. Their father Amarnath was killed in the fire.

Police say that the building did not have a safety clearance from the fire department and are on the lookout for its owner Manish Lakra.

The Indian Express reported that a majority of the deaths occurred on the second floor where a meeting was being held adding people rushed to the third floor as the fire began to spread. With only one exit available, people were unable to reach it in time.

"A meeting was being held on the second floor due to which several people had gathered there. It appears that the room was crowded and many people tried to make their way out at the same time," an official was quoted as saying by the Indian Express.

President Ram Nath Kovind, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and other ministers condoned the fire.

Modi has announced that Rs 2 lakh each would be given to the kin of the dead from the Prime Minister's National Relief Fund while the injured will be given Rs 50,000.