New Delhi, Nov 13: A raging fire trapped four young men in the small room they slept and worked in at Rampur, Punjabi Bagh, in the early hours of Thursday.
The room had neither window nor door. For some time, no one knew where the cries came from, till the victims thumped on the burning iron shutter that locked them in. By the time help came, they were dead.
Mohammad Jaffer (22), Mohammad Ajaz (20), Nazim and Saba Karim (both 19) — were tailors who stitched bed sheets, curtains, sofa covers. All were migrants from Bihar. The room and business belonged to Abdul Ghaffar, the father of Saba Karim.
Ghaffar, who has been working in Delhi for over two years, was sleeping at his home nearby and came running when he heard of the fire. He told the police that his son, who worked with the others, preferred to lodge with them too.
The call for help came to the police at 4.30 am and fire tenders were rushed. “We controlled the fire quickly but they died,” said an officer.
The room had only one escape route — the shutter — which had been rolled down and locked from inside. But the sleepy, shocked youths were unable to open it. The fire, according to the police, had started somehow from near the shutter and it is possible that the lock had jammed. The police have registered a case.
–Agencies