Jumped off balcony, was the only way out: Survivors of Rohini building blaze recall

New Delhi: As thick plumes of smoke turned the sky grey, people screamed for help and some leapt from upper floors to save themselves from the flames that engulfed a four-storey building in Delhi’s Rohini and kept raging for 14 hours.

The blaze that broke out at the building housing multiple manufacturing units in Rohini’s Rithala area on Tuesday evening claimed four lives, and caused injuries to three -- with two of them suffering 80 per cent burns.

According to the officials, the fire was finally brought under control by around 10 am on Wednesday.

Now battling burn injuries on both his legs, 25-year-old Virendra, who was rescued and taken to BSA Hospital, said he was operating a machine on the ground floor when the fire broke out.

“We ran to save our lives as the fire started. It all happened so suddenly that we could not understand how it began. We just rushed out through the main gate, which was the only exit,” he told PTI, his voice still trembling from the trauma.

Virendra, a native of Uttar Pradesh's Varanasi, has been working in the factory for the past one-and-a-half years. He came to Delhi when he was 18.

“I had heard from people in my village that there was work available in Delhi, so I came here,” he recalled.

“I have a wife and a three-year-old child. I just want compensation so I can feed my family until I recover and can find another job. The owners should pay for my treatment and help us survive till then,” Virendra said.

Geeta, another survivor who worked on one of the floors, said, "We saw the smoke, heard people shouting, and just ran.” “I jumped from the first-floor balcony, it was the only way out. The main entrance was blocked due to the fire,” she recalled.

We had fire extinguishers and we managed to use them, but they were of no use. Everyone was just too scared, Geeta said.

“All anyone could think of was getting out alive.” The unit where she worked was involved in manufacturing cloth bags.

Vinod Kumar, who worked in the same unit as Geeta, claimed that the fire started on the ground floor.

“Our boss was the first to see the fire. He started screaming and ran, but he was trapped. There were almost 20 of us. Some workers tried to pull him out, and they also got burnt. It all happened so fast," he recalled.

“Thankfully many of the workers on the second and third floors left the building at around 6 pm as their work was done for the day, but our shift was till 8pm,” he added.

Another survivor, Sanju, who worked on the second floor, told PTI that there was only one exit gate and she had to jump to an adjacent balcony to save herself.

“The exit was blocked due to the flames. I had no option but to jump to the adjacent balcony,” she said, adding that people were crying for help.

A local claimed that the fire raged on for 14 hours.

"It is the first time that such an incident took place here," he said, adding that after hearing noises, they rushed to the terrace.

Locals said there was no blast preceding the fire.

“We realised something was wrong when smoke began filling our home and we heard the chaos outside,” said Bharat Singh, who lives right across the site where the fire broke out.

“Luckily, my family was away. There were only three to four of us in the building. The police told us to evacuate with our vehicles and wait at a distance. We left immediately. If there were cylinders, it would have been a catastrophe,” he added.

The four-storey building was located in a congested residential area, where homes shared walls with the factory.

Firefighters sprayed water on surrounding residential buildings through the night to prevent the flames from spreading. The homes remained safe, residents said.

“People were crying, shouting names, trying to call their loved ones. Young children and family members were screaming thinking their near and ones were trapped inside. The phones were not going through. I think I saw close to eight to nine ambulances come and go. It was heartbreaking,” another local said.

According to locals, the units were located at a different location, but during lockdown, they were shifted to the current location.

They claimed that the third floor, where perfumes were made and chemicals stored, could have been the reason for the intense fire.

The fire spread more rapidly after reaching that floor, an eyewitness said.

“The flames were inextinguishable. It became uncontrollable. We also heard that the perfume factory owner did not survive,” he added.

Police are yet to confirm the identity of the deceased since the bodies are charred beyond recognition and plan to undergo DNA sampling.

According to police, a PCR call regarding the blaze was received at Budh Vihar Police Station at 7.29 pm on Tuesday, following which the emergency officer along with local police staff rushed to the spot at Rana Complex, Gate No. 2, Rithala, where several people were reported trapped inside a burning building.