4 min readNew DelhiUpdated: Mar 18, 2026 09:47 PM IST
At least nine members of a family, three among them children, died after a massive fire broke out in a four-storey building located in a congested lane near Ram Chowk Market, close to Palam Metro station, in Southwest Delhi early Wednesday.
The deceased were family members of building owner Rajender Kashyap, a worker of Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and the president of Ram Chowk Market Association, who had gone to Goa for party work. While the family ran a shop selling cosmetics and fashion items in the basement and on the ground floor of the building, they lived on the upper floors, police said. In all 12 people were in the building when the blaze started.
Police identified the deceased as Rajender’s wife Lado Devi (70), his sons Kamal (39) and Pravesh (33), daughter Himanshi (22), daughters-in-law Ashu (35) and Deepika (28) and three grandchildren – aged 15, six and three.
Those who sustained injuries were Rajender’s sons Sachin (29) – who suffered 25% burns – and Anil (32) as well as his two-year-old granddaughter.
Express photo by Gajendra Yadav
Police said the fire broke out – possibly due to a short circuit on the ground floor – around 7 am when most of the family members were sleeping.
Rajender’s nephew Deepak Sharma told The Indian Express three of the family members jumped from the building to save their lives.
The rescue operation continued for around four hours, said the Delhi Fire Service (DFS). It added that it had received a call about the fire around 7 am and immediately dispatched 30 fire tenders to the spot, along with two hydraulic cranes.
However, Deepak said that initially, only one hydraulic crane was sent to the spot, which did not open. “By the time another one was brought from Connaught Place, the rescue operation had already been delayed,” he added.
Also, Deepak said that due to the narrow lanes in the area, all fire vehicles could not reach the building at one go. “Some lives could have been saved if the rescue operation was not delayed,” he added.
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Express photo by Gajendra Yadav
Dharampal Kashyap (50), younger brother of Rajender, also blamed the “malfunctioning” hydraulic crane for delay in the rescue operation. “The crane’s lift got stuck. That’s why my family members couldn’t be saved.”
“My son called me to say that Rajender’s house was on fire. I rushed from my place in Palam village… My brother is in Goa. What am I going to tell him,” he said.
When asked, a Fire official said, “If any hydraulic crane malfunctioned, we will look into it… People who were trapped were taken out of the building with the help of hydraulic cranes only.” Eyewitnesses said the hydraulic crane that had malfunctioned initially was fixed and eventually took part in the rescue operation.
AAP Delhi chief Saurabh Bhardwaj, who visited the spot, alleged that the DFS arrived an hour late and lacked basic equipment to save those trapped.
Express photo by Gajendra Yadav
“I personally visited the spot. People present there told me that the fire broke out between 6.15 am and 6.30 am. A family living on the third floor started screaming for help. Since the fire began on the ground floor and thick smoke filled the staircase, they could not come down. It is said that the fire brigade reached around 7.30 am,” he told mediapersons.
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“The family, including children, were on the balcony crying for help. The fire brigade had reached but its ladders could not reach them. This, despite the rule that DFS ladders must extend up to 17.5 m in height,” he added.
