New Delhi: Two scrap dealers were killed and three others injured after a fire broke out in the early hours of Tuesday in Pitampura village in outer Delhi, police said. The deceased were identified as Biresh Kumar (28) and Satish Kumar (35), residents of Nalanda district in Bihar. The injured, including Biresh’s brother, managed to escape the blaze but suffered burn injuries and are undergoing treatment. Delhi Fire Service (DFS) received a call about the incident around 1.25 am. Officials said the fire originated near a residential building where the scrap dealers had set up temporary shelters. “They were living in tin-shed shacks erected on an open plot near Vikas Niketan Society, surrounded by highly inflammable materials such as cardboard and carton boxes,” police said. According to investigators, the scrap dealers had lit an open fire to keep warm during the winter and later fell asleep. The flames rapidly spread to the cardboard, cartons and other scrap material. While some occupants managed to flee, Biresh and Satish were unable to escape, possibly because they were intoxicated, police added. One of the injured, identified as Dinesh, told police he attempted to rescue the two men but was forced to retreat due to the intensity of the flames. Nine fire tenders and around 45 firefighters were deployed to control the blaze, which engulfed an area of about 1,000 sq ft. Several nearby vehicles were also damaged. A DFS official said a 14-kg gas cylinder exploded during the incident, while several smaller cylinders caught fire. Authorities also noted a delay in alerting emergency services after the fire broke out. The plot owner, who lives elsewhere, is reportedly involved in a land dispute with the shack residents, they said. A case has been registered at Rani Bagh police station under Section 106 (causing death by negligence) of BNS. In a separate incident earlier on Tuesday, a fire broke out at a three-storey plastic manufacturing factory in the Narela Industrial Area. DFS received a call around 7.15 am and deployed 20 fire tenders. Firefighters brought the fire under control by 10.50 am. No injuries or casualties were reported.
