At least seven people, including three children, were killed and two others injured after a fire swept through a multi-storey building in the Palam area of New Delhi on Wednesday, March 18, officials said, with several people still feared trapped as rescue operations continued. Firefighters and emergency teams mounted a large-scale response at the scene, where the blaze was reported earlier in the day.
Around 25 fire tenders were deployed to fight the flames, carry out cooling operations and search the structure, officials said. Rescue teams worked to evacuate residents and comb the building for anyone still inside while efforts to fully douse the fire continued.
Authorities confirmed seven fatalities so far. Two people, who jumped from the building in a bid to escape the blaze, were injured and taken to a nearby hospital. A Delhi Police team cordoned off the area to support rescue and security operations, and a Centralised Accident and Trauma Services (CATS) ambulance with medical staff was stationed at the site to assist the injured.
Preliminary information indicated the building had a basement, ground floor and four upper storeys, plus a temporary tin shed on the roof. The basement, ground and first floors were reportedly being used to store clothes and cosmetics-materials that can fuel rapid fire spread-while the second and third floors were residential.
Fire department officials said the exact cause of the Palam blaze remained undetermined and that priority measures were to extinguish the fire completely and safely evacuate anyone still inside. Relief and rescue operations were ongoing and being closely monitored.
The New Delhi incident coincided with an earlier deadly fire in Indore, Madhya Pradesh, where at least six people died after a three-storey house in Tilak Nagar was engulfed in flames. Indore Collector Shivam Verma told IANS more than 10 people were inside; three were rescued while six others could not be saved. Officials said an electric vehicle plugged in for charging outside the house may have caused a short circuit that sparked the blaze.
Original Source: https://assamtribune.com/national/tragic-fire-at-delhis-palam-claims-7-lives-including-3-children-1609574
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Publish Date: 2026-03-18 12:01:00
