Swift Police Action Saves 44 Labourers from Delhi Blaze

Police swiftly rescued 44 labourers minutes before a fire engulfed a four-storey building in central Delhi's Nabi Karim area, early Saturday morning. The cause of the blaze was identified as a short circuit. Seven fire tenders were deployed to control the fire, which took four hours to subdue.

The swift intervention of police averted a major tragedy in central Delhi when 44 labourers were rescued just minutes before a fire spread through a four-storey building in the Nabi Karim area early Saturday morning, officials confirmed.

A distress call about the fire was made at 3.20 am, reporting smoke emanating from the ground floor, which is used as a furniture godown, a police officer detailed. The labourers were asleep inside the structure, unable to escape as the shutter to the upper floors was closed.

'The local police, in a swift action, broke the shutter, opened the gate, and proceeded to the second and third floors, where the labourers were sleeping,' stated Deputy Commissioner of Police (Central) M. Harsha Vardhan. All 44 labourers were rescued before the fire could spread throughout the building and just before fire tenders arrived, he added.

An official from the Delhi Fire Service (DFS) said at least seven fire tenders were deployed, taking nearly four hours to bring the fire under control. Thankfully, no injuries were reported in the incident, though furniture and other wooden articles were destroyed. The fire is suspected to have been caused by a short circuit, with further investigations currently underway.

(With inputs from agencies.)