Delhi: 19-yr-old charred to death in Gandhi Nagar fire

A 19-year-old boy was charred to death in the Gandhi Nagar market fire incident here, said officials on Thursday. The deceased has been identified as Shehnawaj and was an employee at the shop that caught fire on Wednesday.

One of the other workers Aftab who had been working at the cloth shop for 12 years said that he along with 4 to 5 other workers saw smoke from the shop as they returned from the main road.

They had reached the shop from Janata Gali, another entry of the shop at around 5.37 PM. As Aftab immediately called the owner he later realised that his own brother Shehnawaj was trapped inside. As per reports, the group also heard Shehnawaj knocking on the door. The workers attempted to break the locks as they asked Shehnawaj to go upstairs but couldn't trace him. The body was found only today in the morning hours on the second floor by the fire service team.

The fire that broke out in a shop in Gandhi Nagar's cloth market is now under control, said the fire department on Wednesday night.

"The fire was declared of a medium category. A total of 28 fire tenders are engaged. Fire is now under control and confined to the top floors," said Deputy Chief Fire Officer SK Dua. Delhi Fire Service received information on a fire that broke out in Gandhi Nagar market at 5:36 pm on Wednesday.