The Delhi High Court on Friday took suo motu cognisance of the Mukherjee Nagar fire incident and issued notice to the Delhi Fire Service, Police, and Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) and sought their response within two weeks. This comes after students of a coaching institute in northwest Delhi's Mukherjee Nagar area the previous day smashed windows, climbed down ropes, and took the help of ladders in desperate attempts to escape a fire that broke out in the building housing it.
Seeking police, MCD, and fire department's response, the Court also directed the Delhi Fire Service to conduct a fire safety audit and to check whether or not fire safety certificates were issued, news agency ANI reported.
According to news agency PTI, a preliminary inquiry suggested that the fire started from an electricity metre board in the five-storey building, officials said.
The police said that around 250 students were attending classes at the building -- Bhandari House -- at the time of the incident. As many as 61 students were taken to different hospitals for treatment.
The site was then inspected by police officials and a forensic team.
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A preliminary probe suggested that the fire spread in the building from electric metres installed at the ground floor of the building, a statement from the police said, as per PTI.
Out of 61 students hospitalised, 50 have been discharged and the rest are undergoing treatment, police said.
A case has been registered at the Mukherjee Nagar police station and further investigation was underway, they said.
In a video shared by the fire department, its personnel could be seen rescuing people, mostly students, through the windows.The panic-stricken students were seen climbing down from the top floor of the building with the help of ropes as smoke billowed out of the windows.
Ropes on the other side of the building were also used by the students to come out of the premises. Some of them were seen throwing down their bags and helping one another.
The Municipal Corporation of Delhi said students on the third and fourth floors of the building escaped the fire by climbing down pipes and ropes during which they suffered blisters on their hands.
Two students suffered serious injuries and are being treated at Safdarjung Hospital. Their condition was stated to be stable. Around 20 students are being treated at Hindu Rao Hospital and 15 at Babu Jagjivan Ram Hospital for minor injuries, the MCD stated, as per PTI.
The MCD claimed that a short circuit in the electric metre on the ground floor of the building caused the fire.
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